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diff --git a/1751-0.txt b/1751-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d219a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/1751-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8302 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Twilight Land + +Author: Howard Pyle + +Posting Date: November 20, 2008 [EBook #1751] +Release Date: May, 1999 +Last Updated: October 25, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWILIGHT LAND *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +TWILIGHT LAND + +By Howard Pyle + + + + +Table of Contents + + Introduction + The Stool of Fortune + The Talisman of Solomon + Ill-Luck and the Fiddler + Empty Bottles + Good Gifts and a Fool’s Folly + The Good of a Few Words + Woman’s Wit + A Piece of Good Luck + The Fruit of Happiness + Not a Pin to Choose + Much Shall Have More and Little Shall Have Less + Wisdom’s Wages and Folly’s Pay + The Enchanted Island + All Things are as Fate Wills + Where to Lay the Blame + The Salt of Life + + + + +Introduction + +I found myself in Twilight Land. How I ever got there I cannot tell, but +there I was in Twilight Land. + +What is Twilight Land? It is a wonderful, wonderful place where no sun +shines to scorch your back as you jog along the way, where no rain falls +to make the road muddy and hard to travel, where no wind blows the dust +into your eyes or the chill into your marrow. Where all is sweet and +quiet and ready to go to bed. + +Where is Twilight Land? Ah! that I cannot tell you. You will either have +to ask your mother or find it for yourself. + +There I was in Twilight Land. The birds were singing their good-night +song, and the little frogs were piping “peet, peet.” The sky overhead +was full of still brightness, and the moon in the east hung in the +purple gray like a great bubble as yellow as gold. All the air was full +of the smell of growing things. The high-road was gray, and the trees +were dark. + +I drifted along the road as a soap-bubble floats before the wind, or as +a body floats in a dream. I floated along and I floated along past the +trees, past the bushes, past the mill-pond, past the mill where the old +miller stood at the door looking at me. + +I floated on, and there was the Inn, and it was the Sign of Mother +Goose. + +The sign hung on a pole, and on it was painted a picture of Mother Goose +with her gray gander. + +It was to the Inn I wished to come. + +I floated on, and I would have floated past the Inn, and perhaps have +gotten into the Land of Never-Come-Back-Again, only I caught at +the branch of an apple-tree, and so I stopped myself, though the +apple-blossoms came falling down like pink and white snowflakes. + +The earth and the air and the sky were all still, just as it is at +twilight, and I heard them laughing and talking in the tap-room of +the Inn of the Sign of Mother Goose--the clinking of glasses, and the +rattling and clatter of knives and forks and plates and dishes. That was +where I wished to go. + +So in I went. Mother Goose herself opened the door, and there I was. + +The room was all full of twilight; but there they sat, every one of +them. I did not count them, but there were ever so many: Aladdin, and +Ali Baba, and Fortunatis, and Jack-the-Giant-Killer, and Doctor Faustus, +and Bidpai, and Cinderella, and Patient Grizzle, and the Soldier who +cheated the Devil, and St. George, and Hans in Luck, who traded and +traded his lump of gold until he had only an empty churn to show for it; +and there was Sindbad the Sailor, and the Tailor who killed seven flies +at a blow, and the Fisherman who fished up the Genie, and the Lad who +fiddled for the Jew in the bramble-bush, and the Blacksmith who made +Death sit in his apple-tree, and Boots, who always marries the Princess, +whether he wants to or not--a rag-tag lot as ever you saw in your life, +gathered from every place, and brought together in Twilight Land. + +Each one of them was telling a story, and now it was the turn of the +Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +“I will tell you,” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, “a story of a +friend of mine.” + +“Take a fresh pipe of tobacco,” said St. George. + +“Thank you, I will,” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +He filled his long pipe full of tobacco, and then he tilted it upside +down and sucked in the light of the candle. + +Puff! puff! puff! and a cloud of smoke went up about his head, so that +you could just see his red nose shining through it, and his bright eyes +twinkling in the midst of the smoke-wreath, like two stars through a +thin cloud on a summer night. + +“I’ll tell you,” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, “the story of +a friend of mine. Tis every word of it just as true as that I myself +cheated the Devil.” + +He took a drink from his mug of beer, and then he began. + +“Tis called,” said he-- + + + + +The Stool of Fortune + +Once upon a time there came a soldier marching along the road, kicking +up a little cloud of dust at each step--as strapping and merry and +bright-eyed a fellow as you would wish to see in a summer day. Tramp! +tramp! tramp! he marched, whistling as he jogged along, though he +carried a heavy musket over his shoulder and though the sun shone hot +and strong and there was never a tree in sight to give him a bit of +shelter. + +At last he came in sight of the King’s Town and to a great field of +stocks and stones, and there sat a little old man as withered and brown +as a dead leaf, and clad all in scarlet from head to foot. + +“Ho! soldier,” said he, “are you a good shot?” + +“Aye,” said the soldier, “that is my trade.” + +“Would you like to earn a dollar by shooting off your musket for me?” + +“Aye,” said the soldier, “that is my trade also.” + +“Very well, then,” said the little man in red, “here is a silver button +to drop into your gun instead of a bullet. Wait you here, and about +sunset there will come a great black bird flying. In one claw it carries +a feather cap and in the other a round stone. Shoot me the silver button +at that bird, and if your aim is good it will drop the feather cap and +the pebble. Bring them to me to the great town-gate and I will pay you a +dollar for your trouble.” + +“Very well,” said the soldier, “shooting my gun is a job that fits me +like an old coat.” So, down he sat and the old man went his way. + +Well, there he sat and sat and sat and sat until the sun touched the rim +of the ground, and then, just as the old man said, there came flying a +great black bird as silent as night. The soldier did not tarry to look +or to think. As the bird flew by up came the gun to his shoulder, squint +went his eye along the barrel--Puff! bang--! + +I vow and declare that if the shot he fired had cracked the sky he +could not have been more frightened. The great black bird gave a yell so +terrible that it curdled the very blood in his veins and made his hair +stand upon end. Away it flew like a flash--a bird no longer, but a +great, black demon, smoking and smelling most horribly of brimstone, +and when the soldier gathered his wits, there lay the feather cap and a +little, round, black stone upon the ground. + +“Well,” said the soldier, “it is little wonder that the old man had +no liking to shoot at such game as that.” And thereupon he popped +the feather cap into one pocket and the round stone into another, and +shouldering his musket marched away until he reached the town-gate, and +there was the old man waiting for him. + +“Did you shoot the bird?” said he. + +“I did,” said the soldier. + +“And did you get the cap and the round stone?” + +“I did.” + +“Then here is your dollar.” + +“Wait a bit,” said the soldier, “I shot greater game that time than +I bargained for, and so it’s ten dollars and not one you shall pay me +before you lay finger upon the feather cap and the little stone.” + +“Very well,” said the old man, “here are ten dollars.” + +“Ho! ho!” thought the soldier, “is that the way the wind blows?”--“Did I +say ten dollars?” said he; “twas a hundred dollars I meant.” + +At that the old man frowned until his eyes shone green. “Very well,” + said he, “if it is a hundred dollars you want, you will have to come +home with me, for I have not so much with me.” Thereupon he entered the +town with the soldier at his heels. + +Up one street he went and down another, until at last he came to a +great, black, ancient ramshackle house; and that was where he lived. In +he walked without so much as a rap at the door, and so led the way to +a great room with furnaces and books and bottles and jars and dust and +cobwebs, and three grinning skulls upon the mantelpiece, each with a +candle stuck atop of it, and there he left the soldier while he went to +get the hundred dollars. + +The soldier sat him down upon a three-legged stool in the corner and +began staring about him; and he liked the looks of the place as little +as any he had seen in all of his life, for it smelled musty and dusty, +it did: the three skulls grinned at him, and he began to think that the +little old man was no better than he should be. “I wish,” says he, at +last, “that instead of being here I might be well out of my scrape and +in a safe place.” + +Now the little old man in scarlet was a great magician, and there was +little or nothing in that house that had not some magic about it, and of +all things the three-legged stool had been conjured the most. + +“I wish that instead of being here I might be well out of my scrape, +and in a safe place.” That was what the soldier said; and hardly had the +words left his lips when--whisk! whir!--away flew the stool through the +window, so suddenly that the soldier had only just time enough to gripe +it tight by the legs to save himself from falling. Whir! whiz!--away it +flew like a bullet. Up and up it went--so high in the air that the earth +below looked like a black blanket spread out in the night; and then down +it came again, with the soldier still griping tight to the legs, until +at last it settled as light as a feather upon a balcony of the king’s +palace; and when the soldier caught his wind again he found himself +without a hat, and with hardly any wits in his head. + +There he sat upon the stool for a long time without daring to move, for +he did not know what might happen to him next. There he sat and sat, and +by-and-by his ears got cold in the night air, and then he noticed for +the first time that he had lost his head gear, and bethought himself of +the feather cap in his pocket. So out he drew it and clapped it upon his +head, and then--lo and behold!--he found he had become as invisible as +thin air--not a shred or a hair of him could be seen. “Well!” said he, +“here is another wonder, but I am safe now at any rate.” And up he got +to find some place not so cool as where he sat. + +He stepped in at an open window, and there he found himself in a +beautiful room, hung with cloth of silver and blue, and with chairs and +tables of white and gold; dozens and scores of waxlights shone like so +many stars, and lit every crack and cranny as bright as day, and there +at one end of the room upon a couch, with her eyelids closed and fast +asleep, lay the prettiest princess that ever the sun shone upon. The +soldier stood and looked and looked at her, and looked and looked at +her, until his heart melted within him like soft butter, and then he +kissed her. + +“Who is that?” said the princess, starting up, wide-awake, but not a +soul could she see, because the soldier had the feather cap upon his +head. + +“It is I,” said he, “and I am King of the Wind, and ten times greater +than the greatest of kings here below. One day I saw you walking in your +garden and fell in love with you, and now I have come to ask you if you +will marry me and be my wife?” + +“But how can I marry you?” said the princess, “without seeing you?” + +“You shall see me,” said the soldier, “all in good time. Three days +from now I will come again, and will show myself to you, but just now it +cannot be. But if I come, will you marry me?” + +“Yes I will,” said the princess, “for I like the way you talk--that I +do!” + +Thereupon the soldier kissed her and said good-bye, and then stepped +out of the window as he had stepped in. He sat him down upon his +three-legged stool. “I wish,” said he, “to be carried to such and such a +tavern.” For he had been in that town before, and knew the places where +good living was to be had. + +Whir! whiz! away flew the stool as high and higher than it had flown +before, and then down it came again, and down and down until it lit as +light as a feather in the street before the tavern door. The soldier +tucked his feather cap in his pocket, and the three-legged stool under +his arm, and in he went and ordered a pot of beer and some white bread +and cheese. + +Meantime, at the king’s palace was such a gossiping and such a hubbub as +had not been heard there for many a day; for the pretty princess was not +slow in telling how the invisible King of the Wind had come and asked +her to marry him; and some said it was true and some said it was not +true, and everybody wondered and talked, and told their own notions of +the matter. But all agreed that three days would show whether what had +been told was true or no. + +As for the soldier, he knew no more how to do what he had promised to do +than my grandmother’s cat; for where was he to get clothes fine enough +for the King of the Wind to wear? So there he sat on his three-legged +stool thinking and thinking, and if he had known all that I know he +would not have given two turns of his wit upon it. “I wish,” says he, at +last--“I wish that this stool could help me now as well as it can carry +me through the sky. I wish,” says he, “that I had a suit of clothes such +as the King of the Wind might really wear.” + +The wonders of the three-legged stool were wonders indeed! + +Hardly had the words left the soldier’s lips when down came something +tumbling about his ears from up in the air; and what should it be but +just such a suit of clothes as he had in his mind--all crusted over with +gold and silver and jewels. + +“Well,” says the soldier, as soon as he had got over his wonder again, +“I would rather sit upon this stool than any I ever saw.” And so would +I, if I had been in his place, and had a few minutes to think of all +that I wanted. + +So he found out the trick of the stool, and after that wishing and +having were easy enough, and by the time the three days were ended the +real King of the Wind himself could not have cut a finer figure. Then +down sat the soldier upon his stool, and wished himself at the king’s +palace. Away he flew through the air, and by-and-by there he was, just +where he had been before. He put his feather cap upon his head, and +stepped in through the window, and there he found the princess with her +father, the king, and her mother, the queen, and all the great lords and +nobles waiting for his coming; but never a stitch nor a hair did they +see of him until he stood in the very midst of them all. Then he whipped +the feather cap off of his head, and there he was, shining with silver +and gold and glistening with jewels--such a sight as man’s eyes never +saw before. + +“Take her,” said the king, “she is yours.” And the soldier looked so +handsome in his fine clothes that the princess was as glad to hear those +words as any she had ever listened to in all of her life. + +“You shall,” said the king, “be married to-morrow.” + +“Very well,” said the soldier. “Only give me a plot of ground to build +a palace upon that shall be fit for the wife of the King of the Wind to +live in.” + +“You shall have it,” said the king, “and it shall be the great parade +ground back of the palace, which is so wide and long that all my army +can march round and round in it without getting into its own way; and +that ought to be big enough.” + +“Yes,” said the soldier, “it is.” Thereupon he put on his feather cap +and disappeared from the sight of all as quickly as one might snuff out +a candle. + +He mounted his three-legged stool and away he flew through the air until +he had come again to the tavern where he was lodging. There he sat him +down and began to churn his thoughts, and the butter he made was worth +the having, I can tell you. He wished for a grand palace of white +marble, and then he wished for all sorts of things to fill it--the +finest that could be had. Then he wished for servants in clothes of gold +and silver, and then he wished for fine horses and gilded coaches. +Then he wished for gardens and orchards and lawns and flower-plats and +fountains, and all kinds and sorts of things, until the sweat ran down +his face from hard thinking and wishing. And as he thought and wished, +all the things he thought and wished for grew up like soap-bubbles from +nothing at all. + +Then, when day began to break, he wished himself with his fine clothes +to be in the palace that his own wits had made, and away he flew through +the air until he had come there safe and sound. + +But when the sun rose and shone down upon the beautiful palace and all +the gardens and orchards around it, the king and queen and all the court +stood dumb with wonder at the sight. Then, as they stood staring, the +gates opened and out came the soldier riding in his gilded coach with +his servants in silver and gold marching beside him, and such a sight +the daylight never looked upon before that day. + +Well, the princess and the soldier were married, and if no couple had +ever been happy in the world before, they were then. Nothing was heard +but feasting and merrymaking, and at night all the sky was lit with +fireworks. Such a wedding had never been before, and all the world was +glad that it had happened. + +That is, all the world but one; that one was the old man dressed in +scarlet that the soldier had met when he first came to town. While all +the rest were in the hubbub of rejoicing, he put on his thinking-cap, +and by-and-by began to see pretty well how things lay, and that, as they +say in our town, there was a fly in the milk-jug. “Ho, ho!” thought he, +“so the soldier has found out all about the three-legged stool, has he? +Well, I will just put a spoke into his wheel for him.” And so he began +to watch for his chance to do the soldier an ill turn. + +Now, a week or two after the wedding, and after all the gay doings had +ended, a grand hunt was declared, and the king and his new son-in-law +and all the court went to it. That was just such a chance as the old +magician had been waiting for; so the night before the hunting-party +returned he climbed the walls of the garden, and so came to the +wonderful palace that the soldier had built out of nothing at all, and +there stood three men keeping guard so that no one might enter. + +But little that troubled the magician. He began to mutter spells and +strange words, and all of a sudden he was gone, and in his place was +a great black ant, for he had changed himself into an ant. In he ran +through a crack of the door (and mischief has got into many a man’s +house through a smaller hole for the matter of that). In and out ran the +ant through one room and another, and up and down and here and there, +until at last in a far-away part of the magic palace he found the +three-legged stool, and if I had been in the soldier’s place I would +have chopped it up into kindling-wood after I had gotten all that I +wanted. But there it was, and in an instant the magician resumed his +own shape. Down he sat him upon the stool. “I wish,” said he, “that this +palace and the princess and all who are within it, together with its +orchards and its lawns and its gardens and everything, may be removed to +such and such a country, upon the other side of the earth.” + +And as the stool had obeyed the soldier, so everything was done now just +as the magician said. + +The next morning back came the hunting-party, and as they rode over the +hill--lo and behold!--there lay stretched out the great parade ground +in which the king’s armies used to march around and around, and the land +was as bare as the palm of my hand. Not a stick or a stone of the palace +was left; not a leaf or a blade of the orchards or gardens was to be +seen. + +The soldier sat as dumb as a fish, and the king stared with eyes and +mouth wide open. “Where is the palace, and where is my daughter?” said +he, at last, finding words and wit. + +“I do not know,” said the soldier. + +The king’s face grew as black as thunder. “You do not know?” he said, +“then you must find out. Seize the traitor!” he cried. + +But that was easier said than done, for, quick as a wink, as they came +to lay hold of him, the soldier whisked the feather cap from his pocket +and clapped it upon his head, and then they might as well have hoped to +find the south wind in winter as to find him. + +But though he got safe away from that trouble he was deep enough in the +dumps, you may be sure of that. Away he went, out into the wide world, +leaving that town behind him. Away he went, until by-and-by he came to +a great forest, and for three days he travelled on and on--he knew not +whither. On the third night, as he sat beside a fire which he had built +to keep him warm, he suddenly bethought himself of the little round +stone which had dropped from the bird’s claw, and which he still had in +his pocket. “Why should it not also help me,” said he, “for there must +be some wonder about it.” So he brought it out, and sat looking at it +and looking at it, but he could make nothing of it for the life of him. +Nevertheless, it might have some wishing power about it, like the +magic stool. “I wish,” said the soldier, “that I might get out of this +scrape.” That is what we have all wished many and many a time in a like +case; but just now it did the soldier no more good to wish than it does +good for the rest of us. “Bah!” said he, “it is nothing but a black +stone after all.” And then he threw it into the fire. + +Puff! Bang! Away flew the embers upon every side, and back tumbled the +soldier, and there in the middle of the flame stood just such a grim, +black being as he had one time shot at with the silver button. + +As for the poor soldier, he just lay flat on his back and stared with +eyes like saucers, for he thought that his end had come for sure. + +“What are my lord’s commands?” said the being, in a voice that shook the +marrow of the soldier’s bones. + +“Who are you?” said the soldier. + +“I am the spirit of the stone,” said the being. “You have heated it in +the flame, and I am here. Whatever you command I must obey.” + +“Say you so?” cried the soldier, scrambling to his feet. “Very well, +then, just carry me to where I may find my wife and my palace again.” + +Without a word the spirit of the stone snatched the soldier up, and +flew away with him swifter than the wind. Over forest, over field, over +mountain and over valley he flew, until at last, just at the crack of +day, he set him down in front of his own palace gate in the far country +where the magician had transported it. + +After that the soldier knew his way quickly enough. He clapped his +feather cap upon his head and into the palace he went, and from one room +to another, until at last he came to where the princess sat weeping and +wailing, with her pretty eyes red from long crying. + +Then the soldier took off his cap again, and you may guess what sounds +of rejoicing followed. They sat down beside one another, and after the +soldier had eaten, the princess told him all that had happened to her; +how the magician had found the stool, and how he had transported the +palace to this far-away land; how he came every day and begged her to +marry him--which she would rather die than do. + +To all this the soldier listened, and when she had ended her story he +bade her to dry her tears, for, after all, the jug was only cracked, +and not past mending. Then he told her that when the sorcerer came again +that day she should say so and so and so and so, and that he would be by +to help her with his feather cap upon his head. + +After that they sat talking together as happy as two turtle-doves, +until the magician’s foot was heard on the stairs. And then the soldier +clapped his feather cap upon his head just as the door opened. + +“Snuff, snuff!” said the magician, sniffing the air, “here is a smell of +Christian blood.” + +“Yes,” said the princess, “that is so; there came a peddler to-day, but +after all he did not stay long.” + +“He’d better not come again,” said the magician, “or it will be the +worse for him. But tell me, will you marry me?” + +“No,” said the princess, “I shall not marry you until you can prove +yourself to be a greater man than my husband.” + +“Pooh!” said the magician, “that will be easy enough to prove; tell me +how you would have me do so and I will do it.” + +“Very well,” said the princess, “then let me see you change yourself +into a lion. If you can do that I may perhaps believe you to be as great +as my husband.” + +“It shall,” said the magician, “be as you say. He began to mutter spells +and strange words, and then all of a sudden he was gone, and in his +place there stood a lion with bristling mane and flaming eyes--a sight +fit of itself to kill a body with terror. + +“That will do!” cried the princess, quaking and trembling at the sight, +and thereupon the magician took his own shape again. + +“Now,” said he, “do you believe that I am as great as the poor soldier?” + +“Not yet,” said the princess; “I have seen how big you can make +yourself, now I wish to see how little you can become. Let me see you +change yourself into a mouse.” + +“So be it,” said the magician, and began again to mutter his spells. +Then all of a sudden he was gone just as he was gone before, and in his +place was a little mouse sitting up and looking at the princess with a +pair of eyes like glass beads. + +But he did not sit there long. This was what the soldier had planned +for, and all the while he had been standing by with his feather hat upon +his head. Up he raised his foot, and down he set it upon the mouse. + +Crunch!--that was an end of the magician. + +After that all was clear sailing; the soldier hunted up the three-legged +stool and down he sat upon it, and by dint of no more than just a little +wishing, back flew palace and garden and all through the air again to +the place whence it came. + +I do not know whether the old king ever believed again that his +son-in-law was the King of the Wind; anyhow, all was peace and +friendliness thereafter, for when a body can sit upon a three-legged +stool and wish to such good purpose as the soldier wished, a body is +just as good as a king, and a good deal better, to my mind. + +The Soldier who cheated the Devil looked into his pipe; it was nearly +out. He puffed and puffed and the coal glowed brighter, and fresh clouds +of smoke rolled up into the air. Little Brown Betty came and refilled, +from a crock of brown foaming ale, the mug which he had emptied. The +Soldier who had cheated the Devil looked up at her and winked one eye. + +“Now,” said St. George, “it is the turn of yonder old man,” and he +pointed, as he spoke, with the stem of his pipe towards old Bidpai, who +sat with closed eyes meditating inside of himself. + +The old man opened his eyes, the whites of which were as yellow as +saffron, and wrinkled his face into innumerable cracks and lines. Then +he closed his eyes again; then he opened them again; then he cleared +his throat and began: “There was once upon a time a man whom other men +called Aben Hassen the Wise--” + +“One moment,” said Ali Baba; “will you not tell us what the story is +about?” + +Old Bidpai looked at him and stroked his long white beard. “It is,” said +he, “about--” + + + + +The Talisman of Solomon + +There was once upon a time a man whom other men called Aben Hassen +the Wise. He had read a thousand books of magic, and knew all that the +ancients or moderns had to tell of the hidden arts. + +The King of the Demons of the Earth, a great and hideous monster, +named Zadok, was his servant, and came and went as Aben Hassen the Wise +ordered, and did as he bade. After Aben Hassen learned all that it was +possible for man to know, he said to himself, “Now I will take my ease +and enjoy my life.” So he called the Demon Zadok to him, and said to the +monster, “I have read in my books that there is a treasure that was one +time hidden by the ancient kings of Egypt--a treasure such as the eyes +of man never saw before or since their day. Is that true?” + +“It is true,” said the Demon. + +“Then I command thee to take me to that treasure and to show it to me,” + said Aben Hassen the Wise. + +“It shall be done,” said the Demon; and thereupon he caught up the Wise +Man and transported him across mountain and valley, across land and +sea, until he brought him to a country known as the “Land of the Black +Isles,” where the treasure of the ancient kings was hidden. The Demon +showed the Magician the treasure, and it was a sight such as man had +never looked upon before or since the days that the dark, ancient ones +hid it. With his treasure Aben Hassen built himself palaces and gardens +and paradises such as the world never saw before. He lived like an +emperor, and the fame of his doings rang through all the four corners of +the earth. + +Now the queen of the Black Isles was the most beautiful woman in the +world, but she was as cruel and wicked and cunning as she was beautiful. +No man that looked upon her could help loving her; for not only was +she as beautiful as a dream, but her beauty was of that sort that it +bewitched a man in spite of himself. + +One day the queen sent for Aben Hassen the Wise. “Tell me,” said she, +“is it true that men say of you that you have discovered a hidden +treasure such as the world never saw before?” And she looked at Aben +Hassen so that his wisdom all crumbled away like sand, and he became +just as foolish as other men. + +“Yes,” said he, “it is true.” + +Aben Hassen the Wise spent all that day with the queen, and when he left +the palace he was like a man drunk and dizzy with love. Moreover, he had +promised to show the queen the hidden treasure the next day. + +As Aben Hassen, like a man in a dream, walked towards his own house, he +met an old man standing at the corner of the street. The old man had a +talisman that hung dangling from a chain, and which he offered for sale. +When Aben Hassen saw the talisman he knew very well what it was--that +it was the famous talisman of King Solomon the Wise. If he who possessed +the talisman asked it to speak, it would tell that man both what to do +and what not to do. + +The Wise Man bought the talisman for three pieces of silver (and wisdom +has been sold for less than that many a time), and as soon as he had the +talisman in his hands he hurried home with it and locked himself in a +room. + +“Tell me,” said the Wise Man to the Talisman, “shall I marry the +beautiful queen of the Black Isles?” + +“Fly, while there is yet time to escape!” said the Talisman; “but go not +near the queen again, for she seeks to destroy thy life.” + +“But tell me, O Talisman!” said the Wise Man, “what then shall I do with +all that vast treasure of the kings of Egypt?” + +“Fly from it while there is yet chance to escape!” said the Talisman; +“but go not into the treasure-house again, for in the farther door, +where thou hast not yet looked, is that which will destroy him who +possesses the treasure.” + +“But Zadok,” said Aben Hassen; “what of Zadok?” + +“Fly from the monster while there is yet time to escape,” said the +Talisman, “and have no more to do with thy Demon slave, for already he +is weaving a net of death and destruction about thy feet.” + +The Wise Man sat all that night pondering and thinking upon what the +Talisman had said. When morning came he washed and dressed himself, and +called the Demon Zadok to him. “Zadok,” said he, “carry me to the palace +of the queen.” In the twinkling of an eye the Demon transported him to +the steps of the palace. + +“Zadok,” said the Wise Man, “give me the staff of life and death;” and +the Demon brought from under his clothes a wand, one-half of which was +of silver and one-half of which was of gold. The Wise Man touched the +steps of the palace with the silver end of the staff. Instantly all +the sound and hum of life was hushed. The thread of life was cut by the +knife of silence, and in a moment all was as still as death. + +“Zadok,” said the Wise Man, “transport me to the treasure-house of the +king of Egypt.” And instantly the Demon had transported him thither. The +Wise Man drew a circle upon the earth. “No one,” said he, “shall have +power to enter here but the master of Zadok, the King of the Demons of +the Earth.” + +“And now, Zadok,” said he, “I command thee to transport me to India, +and as far from here as thou canst.” Instantly the Demon did as he +was commanded; and of all the treasure that he had, the Wise Man took +nothing with him but a jar of golden money and a jar of silver money. +As soon as the Wise Man stood upon the ground of India, he drew from +beneath his robe a little jar of glass. + +“Zadok,” said he, “I command thee to enter this jar.” + +Then the Demon knew that now his turn had come. He besought and implored +the Wise Man to have mercy upon him; but it was all in vain. Then the +Demon roared and bellowed till the earth shook and the sky grew dark +overhead. But all was of no avail; into the jar he must go, and into the +jar he went. Then the Wise Man stoppered the jar and sealed it. He wrote +an inscription of warning upon it, and then he buried it in the ground. + +“Now,” said Aben Hassen the Wise to the Talisman of Solomon, “have I +done everything that I should?” + +“No,” said the Talisman, “thou shouldst not have brought the jar of +golden money and the jar of silver money with thee; for that which is +evil in the greatest is evil in the least. Thou fool! The treasure is +cursed! Cast it all from thee while there is yet time.” + +“Yes, I will do that, too,” said the Wise Man. So he buried in the earth +the jar of gold and the jar of silver that he had brought with him, and +then he stamped the mould down upon it. After that the Wise Man began +his life all over again. He bought, and he sold, and he traded, and +by-and-by he became rich. Then he built himself a great house, and in +the foundation he laid the jar in which the Demon was bottled. + +Then he married a young and handsome wife. By-and-by the wife bore him a +son, and then she died. + +This son was the pride of his father’s heart; but he was as vain and +foolish as his father was wise, so that all men called him Aben Hassen +the Fool, as they called the father Aben Hassen the Wise. + +Then one day death came and called the old man, and he left his son all +that belonged to him--even the Talisman of Solomon. + +Young Aben Hassen the Fool had never seen so much money as now belonged +to him. It seemed to him that there was nothing in the world he could +not enjoy. He found friends by the dozens and scores, and everybody +seemed to be very fond of him. + +He asked no questions of the Talisman of Solomon, for to his mind there +was no need of being both wise and rich. So he began enjoying himself +with his new friends. Day and night there was feasting and drinking and +singing and dancing and merrymaking and carousing; and the money that +the old man had made by trading and wise living poured out like water +through a sieve. + +Then, one day came an end to all this junketing, and nothing remained to +the young spend-thrift of all the wealth that his father had left him. +Then the officers of the law came down upon him and seized all that was +left of the fine things, and his fair-weather friends flew away from his +troubles like flies from vinegar. Then the young man began to think of +the Talisman of Wisdom. For it was with him as it is with so many of +us: When folly has emptied the platter, wisdom is called in to pick the +bones. + +“Tell me,” said the young man to the Talisman of Solomon, “what shall I +do, now that everything is gone?” + +“Go,” said the Talisman of Solomon, “and work as thy father has worked +before thee. Advise with me and become prosperous and contended, but do +not go dig under the cherry-tree in the garden.” + +“Why should I not dig under the cherry-tree in the garden?” says the +young man; “I will see what is there, at any rate.” + +So he straightway took a spade and went out into the garden, where the +Talisman had told him not to go. He dug and dug under the cherry-tree, +and by-and-by his spade struck something hard. It was a vessel of brass, +and it was full of silver money. Upon the lid of the vessel were these +words, engraved in the handwriting of the old man who had died: + +“My son, this vessel full of silver has been brought from the +treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take this, then, that thou +findest; advise with the talisman; be wise and prosper.” + +“And they call that the Talisman of Wisdom,” said the young man. “If I +had listened to it I never would have found this treasure.” + +The next day he began to spend the money he had found, and his friends +soon gathered around him again. + +The vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all gone; not +a single piece was left. + +Then the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of Solomon. +“What shall I do now,” said he, “to save myself from ruin?” + +“Earn thy bread with honest labor,” said the Talisman, “and I will teach +thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the fig-tree that stands by +the fountain in the garden.” + +The young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman had +said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in the garden +as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by his spade struck +something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it was filled with gold +money. Upon the lid of the vessel was engraved these words in the +handwriting of the old man who had gone: “My son, my son,” they said, +“thou hast been warned once; be warned again. The gold money in this +vessel has been brought from the treasure-house of the ancient kings +of Egypt. Take it; be advised by the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and +prosper.” + +“And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would never have +found this,” said the young man. + +The gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and +merrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing left--not a +copper farthing. + +“Tell me,” said the young man to the Talisman, “what shall I do now?” + +“Thou fool,” said the Talisman, “go sweat and toil, but do not go down +into the vault beneath this house. There in the vault is a red stone +built into the wall. The red stone turns upon a pivot. Behind the stone +is a hollow space. As thou wouldst save thy life from peril, go not near +it!” + +“Hear that now,” says the young man, “first, this Talisman told me not +to go, and I found silver. Then it told me not to go, and I found gold; +now it tells me not to go--perhaps I shall find precious stones enough +for a king’s ransom.” + +He lit a lantern and went down into the vault beneath the house. There, +as the Talisman had said, was the red stone built into the wall. He +pressed the stone, and it turned upon its pivot as the Talisman had said +it would turn. Within was a hollow space, as the Talisman said there +would be. In the hollow space there was a casket of silver. The young +man snatched it up, and his hands trembled for joy. + +Upon the lid of the box were these words in the father’s handwriting, +written in letters as red as blood: “Fool, fool! Thou hast been a fool +once, thou hast been a fool twice; be not a fool for a third time. +Restore this casket whence it was taken, and depart.” + +“I will see what is in the box, at any rate,” said the young man. + +He opened it. There was nothing in it but a hollow glass jar the size of +an egg. The young man took the jar from the box; it was as hot as fire. +He cried out and let it fall. The jar burst upon the floor with a crack +of thunder; the house shook and rocked, and the dust flew about in +clouds. Then all was still; and when Aben Hassen the Fool could see +through the cloud of terror that enveloped him he beheld a great, tall, +hideous being as black as ink, and with eyes that shone like coals of +fire. + +When the young man saw that terrible creature his tongue clave to +the roof of his mouth, and his knees smote together with fear, for he +thought that his end had now certainly come. + +“Who are you?” he croaked, as soon as he could find his voice. + +“I am the King of the Demons of the Earth, and my name is Zadok,” + answered the being. “I was once thy father’s slave, and now I am thine, +thou being his son. When thou speakest I must obey, and whatever thou +commandest me to do that I must do.” + +“For instance, what can you do for me?” said the young man. + +“I can do whatsoever you ask me; I can make you rich.” + +“You can make me rich?” + +“Yes, I can make you richer than a king.” + +“Then make me rich as soon as you can,” said Aben Hassen the Fool, “and +that is all that I shall ask of you now.” + +“It shall be done,” said the Demon; “spend all that thou canst spend, +and thou shalt always have more. Has my lord any further commands for +his slave?” + +“No,” said the young man, “there is nothing more; you may go now.” + +And thereupon the Demon vanished like a flash. + +“And to think,” said the young man, as he came up out of the vault--“and +to think that all this I should never have found if I had obeyed the +Talisman.” + +Such riches were never seen in that land as the young man now possessed. +There was no end to the treasure that poured in upon him. He lived like +an emperor. He built a palace more splendid than the palace of the king. +He laid out vast gardens of the most exquisite beauty, in which there +were fountains as white as snow, trees of rare fruit and flowers that +filled all the air with their perfume, summer-houses of alabaster and +ebony. + +Every one who visited him was received like a prince, entertained like a +king, given a present fit for an emperor, and sent away happy. The fame +of all these things went out through all the land, and every one talked +of him and the magnificence that surrounded him. + +It came at last to the ears of the king himself, and one day he said +to his minister, “Let us go and see with our own eyes if all the things +reported of this merchant’s son are true.” + +So the king and his minister disguised themselves as foreign merchants, +and went that evening to the palace where the young man lived. A servant +dressed in clothes of gold and silver cloth stood at the door, and +called to them to come in and be made welcome. He led them in, and to a +chamber lit with perfumed lamps of gold. Then six black slaves took them +in charge and led them to a bath of white marble. They were bathed in +perfumed water and dried with towels of fine linen. When they came +forth they were clad in clothes of cloth of silver, stiff with gold and +jewels. Then twelve handsome white slaves led them through a vast and +splendid hall to a banqueting-room. + +When they entered they were deafened with the noise of carousing and +merrymaking. + +Aben Hassen the Fool sat at the head of the table upon a throne of +gold, with a canopy of gold above his head. When he saw the king and +the minister enter, he beckoned to them to come and sit beside him. +He showed them special favor because they were strangers, and special +servants waited upon them. + +The king and his minister had never seen anything like what they then +saw. They could hardly believe it was not all magic and enchantment. +At the end of the feast each of the guests was given a present of great +value, and was sent away rejoicing. The king received a pearl as big as +a marble; the minister a cup of wrought gold. + +The next morning the king and the prime-minister were talking over what +they had seen. “Sire,” said the prime-minister, “I have no doubt but +that the young man has discovered some vast hidden treasure. Now, +according to the laws of this kingdom, the half of any treasure that is +discovered shall belong to the king’s treasury. If I were in your place +I would send for this young man and compel him to tell me whence comes +all this vast wealth.” + +“That is true,” said the king; “I had not thought of that before. The +young man shall tell me all about it.” + +So they sent a royal guard and brought the young man to the king’s +palace. When the young man saw in the king and the prime-minister his +guests of the night before, whom he had thought to be only foreign +merchants, he fell on his face and kissed the ground before the throne. +But the king spoke to him kindly, and raised him up and sat him on the +seat beside him. They talked for a while concerning different things, +and then the king said at last, “Tell me, my friend, whence comes all +the inestimable wealth that you must possess to allow you to live as you +do?” + +“Sire,” said the young man, “I cannot tell you whence it comes. I can +only tell you that it is given to me.” + +The king frowned. “You cannot tell,” said he; “you must tell. It is for +that that I have sent for you, and you must tell me.” + +Then the young man began to be frightened. “I beseech you,” said he, “do +not ask me whence it comes. I cannot tell you.” + +Then the king’s brows grew as black as thunder. “What!” cried he, “do +you dare to bandy words with me? I know that you have discovered some +treasure. Tell me upon the instant where it is; for the half of it, by +the laws of the land, belongs to me, and I will have it.” + +At the king’s words Aben Hassen the Fool fell on his knees. “Sire,” + said he, “I will tell you all the truth. There is a demon named Zadok--a +monster as black as a coal. He is my slave, and it is he that brings me +all the treasure that I enjoy.” The king thought nothing else than that +Aben Hassen the Fool was trying to deceive him. He laughed; he was +very angry. “What,” cried he, “do you amuse me by such an absurd and +unbelievable tale? Now I am more than ever sure that you have discovered +a treasure and that you wish to keep the knowledge of it from me, +knowing, as you do, that the one-half of it by law belongs to me. Take +him away!” cried he to his attendants. “Give him fifty lashes, and throw +him into prison. He shall stay there and have fifty lashes every day +until he tells me where his wealth is hidden.” + +It was done as the king said, and by-and-by Aben Hassen the Fool lay in +the prison, smarting and sore with the whipping he had had. + +Then he began again to think of the Talisman of Solomon. + +“Tell me,” said he to the Talisman, “What shall I do now to help myself +in this trouble?” + +“Bear thy punishment, thou fool,” said the Talisman. “Know that the king +will by-and-by pardon thee and will let thee go. In the meantime bear +thy punishment; perhaps it will cure thee of thy folly. Only do not call +upon Zadok, the King of the Demons, in this thy trouble.” + +The young man smote his hand upon his head. “What a fool I am,” said +he, “not to have thought to call upon Zadok before this!” Then he called +aloud, “Zadok, Zadok! If thou art indeed my slave, come hither at my +bidding.” + +In an instant there sounded a rumble as of thunder. The floor swayed and +rocked beneath the young man’s feet. The dust flew in clouds, and there +stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that shone like coals of +fire. + +“I have come,” said Zadok, “and first let me cure thy smarts, O master.” + +He removed the cloths from the young man’s back, and rubbed the places +that smarted with a cooling unguent. Instantly the pain and smarting +ceased, and the merchant’s son had perfect ease. + +“Now,” said Zadok, “what is thy bidding?” + +“Tell me,” said Aben Hassen the Fool, “whence comes all the wealth that +you have brought me? The king has commanded me to tell him and I could +not, and so he has had me beaten with fifty lashes.” + +“I bring the treasure,” said Zadok, “from the treasure-house of the +ancient kings of Egypt. That treasure I at one time discovered to your +father, and he, not desiring it himself, hid it in the earth so that no +one might find it.” + +“And where is this treasure-house, O Zadok?” said the young man. + +“It is in the city of the queen of the Black Isles,” said the King of +the Demons; “there thy father lived in a palace of such magnificence +as thou hast never dreamed of. It was I that brought him thence to this +place with one vessel of gold money and one vessel of silver money.” + +“It was you who brought him here, did you say, Zadok? Then, tell me, +can you take me from here to the city of the queen of the Black Isles, +whence you brought him?” + +“Yes,” said Zadok, “with ease.” + +“Then,” said the young man, “I command you to take me thither instantly, +and to show me the treasure.” + +“I obey,” said Zadok. + +He stamped his foot upon the ground. In an instant the walls of the +prison split asunder, and the sky was above them. The Demon leaped from +the earth, carrying the young man by the girdle, and flew through the +air so swiftly that the stars appeared to slide away behind them. In a +moment he set the young man again upon the ground, and Aben Hassen the +Fool found himself at the end of what appeared to be a vast and splendid +garden. + +“We are now,” said Zadok, “above the treasure-house of which I spoke. It +was here that I saw thy father seal it so that no one but the master of +Zadok may enter. Thou mayst go in any time it may please thee, for it is +thine.” + +“I would enter into it now,” said Aben Hassen the Fool. + +“Thou shalt enter,” said Zadok. He stooped, and with his finger-point he +drew a circle upon the ground where they stood; then he stamped with his +heel upon the circle. Instantly the earth opened, and there appeared a +flight of marble steps leading downward into the earth. Zadok led the +way down the steps and the young man followed. At the bottom of the +steps there was a door of adamant. Upon the door were these words in +letters as black as ink, in the handwriting of the old man who had gone: + +“Oh, fool! Fool! Beware what thou doest. Within here shalt thou find +death!” + +There was a key of brass in the door. The King of the Demons turned the +key and opened the door. The young man entered after him. + +Aben Hassen the Fool found himself in a vast vaulted room, lit by the +light of a single carbuncle set in the centre of the dome above. In the +middle of the marble floor was a great basin twenty paces broad, and +filled to the brim with money such as he had found in the brazen vessel +in the garden. + +The young man could not believe what he saw with his own eyes. “Oh, +marvel of marvels!” he cried; “little wonder you could give me boundless +wealth from such a storehouse as this.” + +Zadok laughed. “This,” said he, “is nothing; come with me.” + +He led him from this room to another--like it vaulted, and like it lit +by a carbuncle set in the dome of the roof above. In the middle of the +floor was a basin such as Aben Hassen the Fool had seen in the other +room beyond; only this was filled with gold as that had been filled with +silver, and the gold was like that he had found in the garden. When +the young man saw this vast and amazing wealth he stood speechless and +breathless with wonder. The Demon Zadok laughed. “This,” said he, “is +great, but it is little. Come and I will show thee a marvel indeed.” + +He took the young man by the hand and led him into a third room--vaulted +as the other two had been, lit as they had been by a carbuncle in the +roof above. But when the young man’s eyes saw what was in this third +room, he was like a man turned drunk with wonder. He had to lean against +the wall behind him, for the sight made him dizzy. + +In the middle of the room was such as basin as he had seen in the two +other rooms, only it was filled with jewels--diamonds and rubies and +emeralds and sapphires and precious stones of all kinds--that sparkled +and blazed and flamed like a million stars. Around the wall, and facing +the basin from all sides, stood six golden statues. Three of them were +statues of the kings and three of them were statues of the queens who +had gathered together all this vast and measureless wealth of ancient +Egypt. + +There was space for a seventh statue, but where it should have stood was +a great arched door of adamant. The door was tightly shut, and there was +neither lock nor key to it. Upon the door were written these words in +letters of flame: + +“Behold! Beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all thy +desires.” + +“Tell me, Zadok,” said the young man, after he had filled his soul with +all the other wonders that surrounded him--“tell me what is there that +lies beyond that door?” + +“That I am forbidden to tell thee, O master!” said the King of the +Demons of the Earth. + +“Then open the door for me,” said the young man; “for I cannot open it +for myself, as there is neither lock nor key to it.” + +“That also I am forbidden to do,” said Zadok. + +“I wish that I knew what was there,” said the young man. + +The Demon laughed. “Some time,” said he, “thou mayest find for thyself. +Come, let us leave here and go to the palace which thy father built +years ago, and which he left behind him when he quitted this place for +the place in which thou knewest him.” + +He led the way and the young man followed; they passed through the +vaulted rooms and out through the door of adamant, and Zadok locked it +behind them and gave the key to the young man. + +“All this is thine now,” he said; “I give it to thee as I gave it to thy +father. I have shown thee how to enter, and thou mayst go in whenever it +pleases thee to do so.” + +They ascended the steps, and so reached the garden above. Then Zadok +struck his heel upon the ground, and the earth closed as it had opened. +He led the young man from the spot until they had come to a wide avenue +that led to the palace beyond. “Here I leave thee,” said the Demon, “But +if ever thou hast need of me, call and I will come.” + +Thereupon he vanished like a flash, leaving the young man standing like +one in a dream. + +He saw before him a garden of such splendor and magnificence as he had +never dreamed of even in his wildest fancy. There were seven fountains +as clear as crystal that shot high into the air and fell back into +basins of alabaster. There was a broad avenue as white as snow, and +thousands of lights lit up everything as light as day. Upon either side +of the avenue stood a row of black slaves, clad in garments of white +silk, and with jewelled turbans upon their heads. Each held a flaming +torch of sandal-wood. Behind the slaves stood a double row of armed men, +and behind them a great crowd of other slaves and attendants, dressed +each as magnificently as a prince, blazing and flaming with innumerable +jewels and ornaments of gold. + +But of all these things the young man thought nothing and saw nothing; +for at the end of the marble avenue there arose a palace, the like of +which was not in the four quarters of the earth--a palace of marble and +gold and carmine and ultramarine--rising into the purple starry sky, +and shining in the moonlight like a vision of Paradise. The palace was +illuminated from top to bottom and from end to end; the windows shone +like crystal, and from it came sounds of music and rejoicing. + +When the crowd that stood waiting saw the young man appear, they +shouted: “Welcome! Welcome! To the master who has come again! To Aben +Hassen the Fool!” + +The young man walked up the avenue of marble to the palace, surrounded +by the armed attendants in their dresses of jewels and gold, and +preceded by dancing-girls as beautiful as houris, who danced and sung +before him. He was dizzy with joy. “All--all this,” he exulted, “belongs +to me. And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman of Solomon I +would have had none of it.” + +That was the way he came back to the treasure of the ancient kings of +Egypt, and to the palace of enchantment that his father had quitted. + +For seven months he lived a life of joy and delight, surrounded by +crowds of courtiers as though they were a king, and going from pleasure +to pleasure without end. Nor had he any fear of an end coming to it, for +he knew that his treasure was inexhaustible. He made friends with the +princes and nobles of the land. From far and wide people came to visit +him, and the renown of his magnificence filled all the world. When +men would praise any one they would say, “He is as rich,” or as +“magnificent,” or as “generous, as Aben Hassen the Fool.” + +So for seven months he lived a life of joy and delight; then one morning +he awakened and found everything changed to grief and mourning. Where +the day before had been laughter, to-day was crying. Where the day +before had been mirth, to-day was lamentation. All the city was shrouded +in gloom, and everywhere was weeping and crying. + +Seven black slaves stood on guard near Aben Hassen the Fool as he lay +upon his couch. “What means all this sorrow?” said he to one of the +slaves. + +Instantly all the slaves began howling and beating their heads, and he +to whom the young man had spoken fell down with his face in the dust, +and lay there twisting and writhing like a worm. + +“He has asked the question!” howled the slaves--“he has asked the +question!” + +“Are you mad?” cried the young man. “What is the matter with you?” + +At the doorway of the room stood a beautiful female slave, bearing in +her hands a jewelled basin of gold, filled with rose-water, and a fine +linen napkin for the young man to wash and dry his hands upon. “Tell +me,” said the young man, “what means all this sorrow and lamentation?” + +Instantly the beautiful slave dropped the golden basin upon the stone +floor, and began shrieking and tearing her clothes. “He has asked the +question!” she screamed--“he has asked the question!” + +The young man began to grow frightened; he arose from his couch, +and with uneven steps went out into the anteroom. There he found his +chamberlain waiting for him with a crowd of attendants and courtiers. +“Tell me,” said Aben Hassen the Fool, “why are you all so sorrowful?” + +Instantly they who stood waiting began crying and tearing their clothes +and beating their hands. As for the chamberlain--he was a reverend old +man--his eyes sparkled with anger, and his fingers twitched as though +he would have struck if he had dared. “What,” he cried, “art thou not +contented with all thou hast and with all that we do for thee without +asking the forbidden question?” + +Thereupon he tore his cap from his head and flung it upon the ground, +and began beating himself violently upon the head with great outcrying. + +Aben Hassen the Fool, not knowing what to think or what was to happen, +ran back into the bedroom again. “I think everybody in this place has +gone mad,” said he. “Nevertheless, if I do not find out what it all +means, I shall go mad myself.” + +Then he bethought himself, for the first time since he came to that +land, of the Talisman of Solomon. + +“Tell me, O Talisman,” said he, “why all these people weep and wail so +continuously?” + +“Rest content,” said the Talisman of Solomon, “with knowing that which +concerns thine own self, and seek not to find an answer that will be +to thine own undoing. Be thou also further advised: do not question the +Demon Zadok.” + +“Fool that I am,” said the young man, stamping his foot; “here am I +wasting all this time when, if I had but thought of Zadok at first, he +would have told me all. Then he called aloud, Zadok! Zadok! Zadok!” + +Instantly the ground shook beneath his feet, the dust rose in clouds, +and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that shone like +fire. + +“Tell me,” said the young man; “I command thee to tell me, O Zadok! Why +are the people all gone mad this morning, and why do they weep and +wail, and why do they go crazy when I do but ask them why they are so +afflicted?” + +“I will tell thee,” said Zadok. “Seven-and-thirty years ago there was a +queen over this land--the most beautiful that ever was seen. Thy father, +who was the wisest and most cunning magician in the world, turned her +into stone, and with her all the attendants in her palace. No one since +that time has been permitted to enter the palace--it is forbidden for +any one even to ask a question concerning it; but every year, on the +day on which the queen was turned to stone, the whole land mourns with +weeping and wailing. And now thou knowest all!” + +“What you tell me,” said the young man, “passes wonder. But tell me +further, O Zadok, is it possible for me to see this queen whom my father +turned to stone?” + +“Nothing is easier,” said Zadok. + +“Then,” said the young man, “I command you to take me to where she is, +so that I may see her with mine own eyes.” + +“I hear and obey,” said the Demon. + +He seized the young man by the girdle, and in an instant flew away with +him to a hanging-garden that lay before the queen’s palace. + +“Thou art the first man,” said Zadok, “who has seen what thou art about +to see for seven-and-thirty years. Come, I will show thee a queen, the +most beautiful that the eyes of man ever looked upon.” + +He led the way, and the young man followed, filled with wonder and +astonishment. Not a sound was to be heard, not a thing moved, but +silence hung like a veil between the earth and the sky. + +Following the Demon, the young man ascended a flight of steps, and so +entered the vestibule of the palace. There stood guards in armor of +brass and silver and gold. But they were without life--they were all of +stone as white as alabaster. Thence they passed through room after room +and apartment after apartment crowded with courtiers and nobles and +lords in their robes of office, magnificent beyond fancying, but each +silent and motionless--each a stone as white as alabaster. At last +they entered an apartment in the very centre of the palace. There sat +seven-and-forty female attendants around a couch of purple and gold. +Each of the seven-and-forty was beautiful beyond what the young man +could have believed possible, and each was clad in a garment of silk +as white as snow, embroidered with threads of silver and studded with +glistening diamonds. But each sat silent and motionless--each was a +stone as white as alabaster. + +Upon the couch in the centre of the apartment reclined a queen with a +crown of gold upon her head. She lay there motionless, still. She was +cold and dead--of stone as white as marble. The young man approached and +looked into her face, and when he looked his breath became faint and his +heart grew soft within him like wax in a flame of fire. + +He sighed; he melted; the tears burst from his eyes and ran down his +cheeks. “Zadok!” he cried--“Zadok! Zadok! What have you done to show +me this wonder of beauty and love! Alas! That I have seen her; for the +world is nothing to me now. O Zadok! That she were flesh and blood, +instead of cold stone! Tell me, Zadok, I command you to tell me, was +she once really alive as I am alive, and did my father truly turn her to +stone as she lies here?” + +“She was really alive as thou art alive, and he did truly transform her +to this stone,” said Zadok. + +“And tell me,” said the young man, “can she never become alive again?” + +“She can become alive, and it lies with you to make her alive,” said the +Demon. “Listen, O master. Thy father possessed a wand, half of silver +and half of gold. Whatsoever he touched with silver became converted +to stone, such as thou seest all around thee here; but whatsoever, O +master, he touched with the gold, it became alive, even if it were a +dead stone.” + +“Tell me, Zadok,” cried the young man; “I command you to tell me, where +is that wand of silver and gold?” + +“I have it with me,” said Zadok. + +“Then give it to me; I command you to give it to me.” + +“I hear and obey,” said Zadok. He drew from his girdle a wand, half of +gold and half of silver, as he spoke, and gave it to the young man. + +“Thou mayst go now, Zadok,” said the young man, trembling with +eagerness. + +Zadok laughed and vanished. The young man stood for a while looking down +at the beautiful figure of alabaster. Then he touched the lips with the +golden tip of the wand. In an instant there came a marvellous change. +He saw the stone melt, and begin to grow flexible and soft. He saw it +become warm, and the cheeks and lips grow red with life. Meantime a +murmur had begun to rise all through the palace. It grew louder and +louder--it became a shout. The figure of the queen that had been stone +opened its eyes. + +“Who are you?” it said. + +Aben Hassen the Fool fell upon his knees. “I am he who was sent to bring +you to life.” he said. “My father turned you to cold stone, and I--I +have brought you back to warm life again.” + +The queen smiled--her teeth sparkled like pearls. “If you have brought +me to life, then I am yours,” she said, and she kissed him upon the +lips. + +He grew suddenly dizzy; the world swam before his eyes. + +For seven days nothing was heard in the town but rejoicing and joy. The +young man lived in a golden cloud of delight. “And to think,” said he, +“if I had listened to that accursed Talisman of Solomon, called The +Wise,’ all this happiness, this ecstasy that is now mine, would have +been lost to me.” + +“Tell me, beloved,” said the queen, upon the morning of the seventh +day--“thy father once possessed all the hidden treasure of the ancient +kings of Egypt--tell me, is it now thine as it was once his?” + +“Yes,” said the young man, “it is now all mine as it was once all his.” + +“And do you really love me as you say?” + +“Yes,” said the young man, “and ten thousand times more than I say.” + +“Then, as you love me, I beg one boon on you. It is that you show me +this treasure of which I have heard so much, and which we are to enjoy +together.” + +The young man was drunk with happiness. “Thou shalt see it all,” said +he. + +Then, for the first time, the Talisman spoke without being questioned. +“Fool!” it cried; “wilt thou not be advised?” + +“Be silent,” said the young man. “Six times, vile thing, you would have +betrayed me. Six times you would have deprived me of joys that should +have been mine, and each was greater than that which went before. Shall +I now listen the seventh time? Now,” said he to the queen, “I will show +you our treasure.” He called aloud, “Zadok, Zadok, Zadok!” + +Instantly the ground shook beneath their feet, the dust rose in clouds, +and Zadok appeared, as black as ink, and with eyes that shone like coals +of fire. + +“I command you,” said the young man, “to carry the queen and myself to +the garden where my treasure lies hidden.” + +Zadok laughed aloud. “I hear thee and obey thee, master,” said he. + +He seized the queen and the young man by the girdle, and in an instant +transported them to the garden and to the treasure-house. + +“Thou art where thou commandest to be,” said the Demon. + +The young man immediately drew a circle upon the ground with his +finger-tip. He struck his heel upon the circle. The ground opened, +disclosing the steps leading downward. The young man descended the steps +with the queen behind him, and behind them both came the Demon Zadok. + +The young man opened the door of adamant and entered the first of the +vaulted rooms. + +When the queen saw the huge basin full of silver treasure, her cheeks +and her forehead flushed as red as fire. + +They went into the next room, and when the queen saw the basin of gold +her face turned as white as ashes. + +They went into the third room, and when the queen saw the basin of +jewels and the six golden statues her face turned as blue as lead, and +her eyes shone green like a snake’s. + +“Are you content?” asked the young man. + +The queen looked about her. “No!” cried she, hoarsely, pointing to the +closed door that had never been opened, and whereon were engraved these +words: + +“Behold! Beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all thy +desires.” + +“No!” cried she. “What is it that lies behind yon door?” + +“I do not know,” said the young man. + +“Then open the door, and let me see what lies within.” + +“I cannot open the door,” said he. “How can I open the door, seeing that +there is no lock nor key to it?” + +“If thou dost not open the door,” said the queen, “all is over between +thee and me. So do as I bid thee, or leave me forever.” + +They had both forgotten that the Demon Zadok was there. Then the young +man bethought himself of the Talisman of Solomon. “Tell me, O Talisman,” + said he, “how shall I open yonder door?” + +“Oh, wretched one!” cried the Talisman, “oh, wretched one! Fly while +there is yet time--fly, for thy doom is near! Do not push the door open, +for it is not locked!” + +The young man struck his head with his clinched fist. “What a fool am +I!” he cried. “Will I never learn wisdom. Here have I been coming to +this place seven months, and have never yet thought to try whether +yonder door was locked or not!” + +“Open the door!” cried the queen. + +They went forward together. The young man pushed the door with his hand. +It opened swiftly and silently, and they entered. + +Within was a narrow room as red as blood. A flaming lamp hung from the +ceiling above. The young man stood as though turned to stone, for there +stood a gigantic Black Demon with a napkin wrapped around his loins and +a scimitar in his right hand, the blade of which gleamed like lightning +in the flame of the lamp. Before him lay a basket filled with sawdust. + +When the queen saw what she saw she screamed in a loud voice, “Thou hast +found it! Thou hast found it! Thou hast found what alone can satisfy all +thy desires! Strike, O slave!” + +The young man heard the Demon Zadok give a yell of laughter. He saw a +whirl and a flash, and then he knew nothing. + +The Black had struck--the blade had fallen, and the head of Aben Hassen +the Fool rolled into the basket of sawdust that stood waiting for it. + +“Aye, aye,” said St. George, “and so it should end. For what was your +Aben Hassen the Fool but a heathen Paniem? Thus should the heads of all +the like be chopped off from their shoulders. Is there not some one here +to tell us a fair story about a saint?” + +“For the matter of that,” said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew was in +the bramble-bush--“for the matter of that I know a very good story that +begins about a saint and a hazel-nut. + +“Say you so?” said St. George. “Well, let us have it. But stay, friend, +thou hast no ale in thy pot. Wilt thou not let me pay for having it +filled?” + +“That,” said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew was in the bramble-bush, +“may be as you please, Sir Knight; and, to tell the truth, I will be +mightily glad for a drop to moisten my throat withal.” + +“But,” said Fortunatus, “you have not told us what the story is to be +about.” + +“It is,” said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the bramble-bush, +“about--” + + + + +Ill-Luck and the Fiddler + +Once upon a time St. Nicholas came down into the world to take a peep +at the old place and see how things looked in the spring-time. On he +stepped along the road to the town where he used to live, for he had +a notion to find out whether things were going on nowadays as they +one time did. By-and-by he came to a cross-road, and who should he +see sitting there but Ill-Luck himself. Ill-Luck’s face was as gray as +ashes, and his hair as white as snow--for he is as old as Grandfather +Adam--and two great wings grew out of his shoulders--for he flies fast +and comes quickly to those whom he visits, does Ill-Luck. + +Now, St. Nicholas had a pocketful of hazel-nuts, which he kept cracking +and eating as he trudged along the road, and just then he came upon one +with a worm-hole in it. When he saw Ill-Luck it came into his head to do +a good turn to poor sorrowful man. + +“Good-morning, Ill-Luck,” says he. + +“Good-morning, St. Nicholas,” says Ill-Luck. + +“You look as hale and strong as ever,” says St. Nicholas. + +“Ah, yes,” says Ill-Luck, “I find plenty to do in this world of woe.” + +“They tell me,” says St. Nicholas, “that you can go wherever you choose, +even if it be through a key-hole; now, is that so?” + +“Yes,” says Ill-Luck, “it is.” + +“Well, look now, friend,” says St. Nicholas, “could you go into this +hazel-nut if you chose to?” + +“Yes,” says Ill-Luck, “I could indeed.” + +“I should like to see you,” says St. Nicholas; “for then I should be of +a mind to believe what people say of you.” + +“Well,” says Ill-Luck, “I have not much time to be pottering and playing +upon Jack’s fiddle; but to oblige an old friend”--thereupon he made +himself small and smaller, and--phst! he was in the nut before you could +wink. + +Then what do you think St. Nicholas did? In his hand he held a little +plug of wood, and no sooner had Ill-Luck entered the nut than he stuck +the plug in the hole, and there was man’s enemy as tight as fly in a +bottle. + +“So!” says St. Nicholas, “that’s a piece of work well done.” Then he +tossed the hazel-nut under the roots of an oak-tree near by, and went +his way. + +And that is how this story begins. + +Well, the hazel-nut lay and lay and lay, and all the time that it lay +there nobody met with ill-luck; but, one day, who should come travelling +that way but a rogue of a Fiddler, with his fiddle under his arm. The +day was warm, and he was tired; so down he sat under the shade of the +oak-tree to rest his legs. By-and-by he heard a little shrill voice +piping and crying, “Let me out! let me out! let me out!” + +The Fiddler looked up and down, but he could see nobody. “Who are you?” + says he. + +“I am Ill-Luck! Let me out! let me out!” + +“Let you out?” says the Fiddler. “Not I; if you are bottled up here it +is the better for all of us;” and, so saying, he tucked his fiddle under +his arm and off he marched. + +But before he had gone six steps he stopped. He was one of your peering, +prying sort, and liked more than a little to know all that was to be +known about this or that or the other thing that he chanced to see or +hear. “I wonder where Ill-Luck can be, to be in such a tight place as +he seems to be caught in,” says he to himself; and back he came again. +“Where are you, Ill-Luck?” says he. + +“Here I am,” says Ill-Luck--“here in this hazel-nut, under the roots of +the oak-tree.” + +Thereupon the Fiddler laid aside his fiddle and bow, and fell to +poking and prying under the roots until he found the nut. Then he began +twisting and turning it in his fingers, looking first on one side and +then on the other, and all the while Ill-Luck kept crying, “Let me out! +let me out!” + +It was not long before the Fiddler found the little wooden plug, and +then nothing would do but he must take a peep inside the nut to see if +Ill-Luck was really there. So he picked and pulled at the wooden plug, +until at last out it came; and--phst! pop! out came Ill-Luck along with +it. + +Plague take the Fiddler! say I. + +“Listen,” says Ill-Luck. “It has been many a long day that I have been +in that hazel-nut, and you are the man that has let me out; for once +in a way I will do a good turn to a poor human body.” Therewith, and +without giving the Fiddler time to speak a word, Ill-Luck caught him up +by the belt, and--whiz! away he flew like a bullet, over hill and over +valley; over moor and over mountain, so fast that not enough wind was +left in the Fiddler’s stomach to say “Bo!” + +By-and-by he came to a garden, and there he let the Fiddler drop on +the soft grass below. Then away he flew to attend to other matters of +greater need. + +When the Fiddler had gathered his wits together, and himself to +his feet, he saw that he lay in a beautiful garden of flowers and +fruit-trees and marble walks and what not, and that at the end of +it stood a great, splendid house, all built of white marble, with a +fountain in front, and peacocks strutting about on the lawn. + +Well, the Fiddler smoothed down his hair and brushed his clothes a bit, +and off he went to see what was to be seen at the grand house at the end +of the garden. + +He entered the door, and nobody said no to him. Then he passed through +one room after another, and each was finer than the one he left behind. +Many servants stood around; but they only bowed, and never asked whence +he came. At last he came to a room where a little old man sat at a +table. The table was spread with a feast that smelled so good that it +brought tears to the Fiddler’s eyes and water to his mouth, and all +the plates were of pure gold. The little old man sat alone, but another +place was spread, as though he were expecting some one. As the Fiddler +came in the little old man nodded and smiled. “Welcome!” he cried; “and +have you come at last?” + +“Yes,” said the Fiddler, “I have. It was Ill-Luck that brought me.” + +“Nay,” said the little old man, “do not say that. Sit down to the table +and eat; and when I have told you all, you will say it was not Ill-Luck, +but Good-Luck, that brought you.” + +The Fiddler had his own mind about that; but, all the same, down he sat +at the table, and fell to with knife and fork at the good things, as +though he had not had a bite to eat for a week of Sundays. + +“I am the richest man in the world,” says the little old man, after a +while. + +“I am glad to hear it,” says the Fiddler. + +“You may well be,” said the old man, “for I am all alone in the world, +and without wife or child. And this morning I said to myself that the +first body that came to my house I would take for a son--or a daughter, +as the case might be. You are the first, and so you shall live with me +as long as I live, and after I am gone everything that I have shall be +yours.” + +The Fiddler did nothing but stare with open eyes and mouth, as though he +would never shut either again. + +Well, the Fiddler lived with the old man for maybe three or four days as +snug and happy a life as ever a mouse passed in a green cheese. As for +the gold and silver and jewels--why, they were as plentiful in that +house as dust in a mill! Everything the Fiddler wanted came to his hand. +He lived high, and slept soft and warm, and never knew what it was to +want either more or less, or great or small. In all of those three or +four days he did nothing but enjoy himself with might and main. + +But by-and-by he began to wonder where all the good things came from. +Then, before long, he fell to pestering the old man with questions about +the matter. + +At first the old man put him off with short answers, but the Fiddler was +a master-hand at finding out anything he wanted to know. He dinned and +drummed and worried until flesh and blood could stand it no longer. So +at last the old man said that he would show him the treasure-house where +all his wealth came from, and at that the Fiddler was tickled beyond +measure. + +The old man took a key from behind the door and led him out into the +garden. There in a corner by the wall was a great trap-door of iron. The +old man fitted the key to the lock and turned it. He lifted the door, +and then went down a steep flight of stone steps, and the Fiddler +followed close at his heels. Down below it was as light as day, for in +the centre of the room hung a great lamp that shone with a bright light +and lit up all the place as bright as day. In the floor were set three +great basins of marble: one was nearly full of silver, one of gold, and +one of gems of all sorts. + +“All this is mine,” said the old man, “and after I am gone it shall be +yours. It was left to me as I will leave it to you, and in the meantime +you may come and go as you choose and fill your pockets whenever you +wish to. But there is one thing you must not do: you must never open +that door yonder at the back of the room. Should you do so, Ill-Luck +will be sure to overtake you.” + +Oh no! The Fiddler would never think of doing such a thing as opening +the door. The silver and gold and jewels were enough for him. But since +the old man had given him leave, he would just help himself to a few of +the fine things. So he stuffed his pockets full, and then he followed +the old man up the steps and out into the sunlight again. + +It took him maybe an hour to count all the money and jewels he had +brought up with him. After he had done that, he began to wonder what was +inside of the little door at the back of the room. First he wondered; +then he began to grow curious; then he began to itch and tingle and burn +as though fifty thousand I-want-to-know nettles were sticking into him +from top to toe. At last he could stand it no longer. “I’ll just go down +yonder,” says he, “and peep through the key-hole; perhaps I can see what +is there without opening the door.” + +So down he took the key, and off he marched to the garden. He opened the +trap-door, and went down the steep steps to the room below. There was +the door at the end of the room, but when he came to look there was no +key-hole to it. “Pshaw!” said he, “here is a pretty state of affairs. +Tut! tut! tut! Well, since I have come so far, it would be a pity to +turn back without seeing more.” So he opened the door and peeped in. + +“Pooh!” said the Fiddler, “There’s nothing there, after all,” and he +opened the door wide. + +Before him was a great long passageway, and at the far end of it he +could see a spark of light as though the sun were shining there. He +listened, and after a while he heard a sound like the waves beating on +the shore. “Well,” says he, “this is the most curious thing I have seen +for a long time. Since I have come so far, I may as well see the end of +it.” So he entered the passageway, and closed the door behind him. He +went on and on, and the spark of light kept growing larger and larger, +and by-and-by--pop! out he came at the other end of the passage. + +Sure enough, there he stood on the sea-shore, with the waves beating and +dashing on the rocks. He stood looking and wondering to find himself in +such a place, when all of a sudden something came with a whiz and a rush +and caught him by the belt, and away he flew like a bullet. + +By-and-by he managed to screw his head around and look up, and there it +was Ill-Luck that had him. “I thought so,” said the Fiddler; and then he +gave over kicking. + +Well; on and on they flew, over hill and valley, over moor and mountain, +until they came to another garden, and there Ill-Luck let the Fiddler +drop. + +Swash! Down he fell into the top of an apple-tree, and there he hung in +the branches. + +It was the garden of a royal castle, and all had been weeping and woe +(though they were beginning now to pick up their smiles again), and this +was the reason why: + +The king of that country had died, and no one was left behind him but +the queen. But she was a prize, for not only was the kingdom hers, but +she was as young as a spring apple and as pretty as a picture; so that +there was no end of those who would have liked to have had her, each man +for his own. Even that day there were three princes at the castle, each +one wanting the queen to marry him; and the wrangling and bickering and +squabbling that was going on was enough to deafen a body. The poor young +queen was tired to death with it all, and so she had come out into +the garden for a bit of rest; and there she sat under the shade of an +apple-tree, fanning herself and crying, when-- + +Swash! Down fell the Fiddler into the apple-tree and down fell a dozen +apples, popping and tumbling about the queen’s ears. + +The queen looked up and screamed, and the Fiddler climbed down. + +“Where did you come from?” said she. + +“Oh, Ill-Luck brought me,” said the Fiddler. + +“Nay,” said the queen, “do not say so. You fell from heaven, for I saw +it with my eyes and heard it with my ears. I see how it is now. You were +sent hither from heaven to be my husband, and my husband you shall be. +You shall be king of this country, half-and-half with me as queen, and +shall sit on a throne beside me.” + +You can guess whether or not that was music to the Fiddler’s ears. + +So the princes were sent packing, and the Fiddler was married to the +queen, and reigned in that country. + +Well, three or four days passed, and all was as sweet and happy as a +spring day. But at the end of that time the Fiddler began to wonder what +was to be seen in the castle. The queen was very fond of him, and was +glad enough to show him all the fine things that were to be seen; so +hand in hand they went everywhere, from garret to cellar. + +But you should have seen how splendid it all was! The Fiddler felt more +certain than ever that it was better to be a king than to be the richest +man in the world, and he was as glad as glad could be that Ill-Luck had +brought him from the rich little old man over yonder to this. + +So he saw everything in the castle but one thing. “What is behind that +door?” said he. + +“Ah! that,” said the queen, “you must not ask or wish to know. Should +you open that door Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you.” + +“Pooh!” said the Fiddler, “I don’t care to know, anyhow,” and off they +went, hand in hand. + +Yes, that was a very fine thing to say; but before an hour had gone +by the Fiddler’s head began to hum and buzz like a beehive. “I don’t +believe,” said he, “there would be a grain of harm in my peeping inside +that door; all the same, I will not do it. I will just go down and peep +through the key-hole.” So off he went to do as he said; but there was +no key-hole to that door, either. “Why, look!” says he, “it is just like +the door at the rich man’s house over yonder; I wonder if it is the same +inside as outside,” and he opened the door and peeped in. Yes; there was +the long passage and the spark of light at the far end, as though the +sun were shining. He cocked his head to one side and listened. “Yes,” + said he, “I think I hear the water rushing, but I am not sure; I will +just go a little further in and listen,” and so he entered and closed +the door behind him. Well, he went on and on until--pop! there he was +out at the farther end, and before he knew what he was about he had +stepped out upon the sea-shore, just as he had done before. + +Whiz! whirr! Away flew the Fiddler like a bullet, and there was Ill-Luck +carrying him by the belt again. Away they sped, over hill and valley, +over moor and mountain, until the Fiddler’s head grew so dizzy that +he had to shut his eyes. Suddenly Ill-Luck let him drop, and down he +fell--thump! bump!--on the hard ground. Then he opened his eyes and sat +up, and, lo and behold! there he was, under the oak-tree whence he had +started in the first place. There lay his fiddle, just as he had left +it. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the strings--trum, twang! +Then he got to his feet and brushed the dirt and grass from his knees. +He tucked his fiddle under his arm, and off he stepped upon the way he +had been going at first. + +“Just to think!” said he, “I would either have been the richest man +in the world, or else I would have been a king, if it had not been for +Ill-Luck.” + +And that is the way we all of us talk. + + +Dr. Faustus had sat all the while neither drinking ale nor smoking +tobacco, but with his hands folded, and in silence. “I know not why it +is,” said he, “but that story of yours, my friend, brings to my mind +a story of a man whom I once knew--a great magician in his time, and +a necromancer and a chemist and an alchemist and mathematician and a +rhetorician, an astronomer, an astrologer, and a philosopher as well.” + +“Tis a long list of excellency,” said old Bidpai. + +“Tis not as long as was his head,” said Dr. Faustus. + +“It would be good for us all to hear a story of such a man,” said old +Bidpai. + +“Nay,” said Dr. Faustus, “the story is not altogether of the man +himself, but rather of a pupil who came to learn wisdom of him.” + +“And the name of your story is what?” said Fortunatus. + +“It hath no name,” said Dr. Faustus. + +“Nay,” said St. George, “everything must have a name.” + +“It hath no name,” said Dr. Faustus. “But I shall give it a name, and it +shall be--” + + + + +Empty Bottles + +In the old, old days when men were wiser than they are in these times, +there lived a great philosopher and magician, by name Nicholas Flamel. +Not only did he know all the actual sciences, but the black arts as +well, and magic, and what not. He conjured demons so that when a body +passed the house of a moonlight night a body might see imps, great and +small, little and big, sitting on the chimney stacks and the ridge-pole, +clattering their heels on the tiles and chatting together. + +He could change iron and lead into silver and gold; he discovered the +elixir of life, and might have been living even to this day had he +thought it worth while to do so. + +There was a student at the university whose name was Gebhart, who was so +well acquainted with algebra and geometry that he could tell at a single +glance how many drops of water there were in a bottle of wine. As +for Latin and Greek--he could patter them off like his A B C’s. +Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with the things he knew, but was for +learning the things that no schools could teach him. So one day he came +knocking at Nicholas Flamel’s door. + +“Come in,” said the wise man, and there Gebhart found him sitting in the +midst of his books and bottles and diagrams and dust and chemicals and +cobwebs, making strange figures upon the table with jackstraws and a +piece of chalk--for your true wise man can squeeze more learning out of +jackstraws and a piece of chalk than we common folk can get out of all +the books in the world. + +No one else was in the room but the wise man’s servant, whose name was +Babette. + +“What is it you want?” said the wise man, looking at Gebhart over the +rim of his spectacles. + +“Master,” said Gebhart, “I have studied day after day at the university, +and from early in the morning until late at night, so that my head has +hummed and my eyes were sore, yet I have not learned those things that +I wish most of all to know--the arts that no one but you can teach. Will +you take me as your pupil?” + +The wise man shook his head. + +“Many would like to be as wise as that,” said he, “and few there be who +can become so. Now tell me. Suppose all the riches of the world were +offered to you, would you rather be wise?” + +“Yes.” + +“Suppose you might have all the rank and power of a king or of an +emperor, would you rather be wise?” + +“Yes.” + +“Suppose I undertook to teach you, would you give up everything of joy +and of pleasure to follow me?” + +“Yes.” + +“Perhaps you are hungry,” said the master. + +“Yes,” said the student, “I am.” + +“Then, Babette, you may bring some bread and cheese.” + +It seemed to Gebhart that he had learned all that Nicholas Flamel had to +teach him. + +It was in the gray of the dawning, and the master took the pupil by the +hand and led him up the rickety stairs to the roof of the house, where +nothing was to be seen but gray sky, high roofs, and chimney stacks from +which the smoke rose straight into the still air. + +“Now,” said the master, “I have taught you nearly all of the science +that I know, and the time has come to show you the wonderful thing that +has been waiting for us from the beginning when time was. You have given +up wealth and the world and pleasure and joy and love for the sake of +wisdom. Now, then, comes the last test--whether you can remain faithful +to me to the end; if you fail in it, all is lost that you have gained.” + +After he said that he stripped his cloak away from his shoulders and +laid bare the skin. Then he took a bottle of red liquor and began +bathing his shoulder-blades with it; and as Gebhart, squatting upon +the ridge-pole, looked, he saw two little lumps bud out upon the smooth +skin, and then grow and grow and grow until they became two great wings +as white as snow. + +“Now then,” said the master, “take me by the belt and grip fast, for +there is a long, long journey before us, and if you should lose your +head and let go your hold you will fall and be dashed to pieces.” + +Then he spread the two great wings, and away he flew as fast as the +wind, with Gebhart hanging to his belt. + +Over hills, over dales, over mountains, over moors he flew, with the +brown earth lying so far below that horses and cows looked like pismires +and men like fleas. + +Then, by-and-by, it was over the ocean they were crossing, with the +great ships that pitched and tossed below looking like chips in a puddle +in rainy weather. + +At last they came to a strange land, far, far away, and there the master +lit upon a sea-shore where the sand was as white as silver. As soon as +his feet touched the hard ground the great wings were gone like a puff +of smoke, and the wise man walked like any other body. + +At the edge of the sandy beach was a great, high, naked cliff; and the +only way of reaching the top was by a flight of stone steps, as slippery +as glass, cut in the solid rock. + +The wise man led the way, and the student followed close at his heels, +every now and then slipping and stumbling so that, had it not been for +the help that the master gave him, he would have fallen more than once +and have been dashed to pieces upon the rocks below. + +At last they reached the top, and there found themselves in a desert, +without stick of wood or blade of grass, but only gray stones and skulls +and bones bleaching in the sun. + +In the middle of the plain was a castle such as the eyes of man never +saw before, for it was built all of crystal from roof to cellar. +Around it was a high wall of steel, and in the wall were seven gates of +polished brass. + +The wise man led the way straight to the middle gate of the seven, where +there hung a horn of pure silver, which he set to his lips. He blew +a blast so loud and shrill that it made Gebhart’s ears tingle. In an +instant there sounded a great rumble and grumble like the noise of +loud thunder, and the gates of brass swung slowly back, as though of +themselves. + +But when Gebhart saw what he saw within the gates his heart crumbled +away for fear, and his knees knocked together; for there, in the very +middle of the way, stood a monstrous, hideous dragon, that blew out +flames and clouds of smoke from his gaping mouth like a chimney a-fire. + +But the wise master was as cool as smooth water; he thrust his hand +into the bosom of his jacket and drew forth a little black box, which he +flung straight into the gaping mouth. + +Snap!--the dragon swallowed the box. + +The next moment it gave a great, loud, terrible cry, and, clapping and +rattling its wings, leaped into the air and flew away, bellowing like a +bull. + +If Gebhart had been wonder-struck at seeing the outside of the castle, +he was ten thousand times more amazed to see the inside thereof. For, +as the master led the way and he followed, he passed through +four-and-twenty rooms, each one more wonderful than the other. +Everywhere was gold and silver and dazzling jewels that glistened so +brightly that one had to shut one’s eyes to their sparkle. Beside all +this, there were silks and satins and velvets and laces and crystal and +ebony and sandal-wood that smelled sweeter than musk and rose leaves. +All the wealth of the world brought together into one place could +not make such riches as Gebhart saw with his two eyes in these +four-and-twenty rooms. His heart beat fast within him. + +At last they reached a little door of solid iron, beside which hung a +sword with a blade that shone like lightning. The master took the sword +in one hand and laid the other upon the latch of the door. Then he +turned to Gebhart and spoke for the first time since they had started +upon their long journey. + +“In this room,” said he, “you will see a strange thing happen, and in a +little while I shall be as one dead. As soon as that comes to pass, go +you straightway through to the room beyond, where you will find upon a +marble table a goblet of water and a silver dagger. Touch nothing else, +and look at nothing else, for if you do all will be lost to both of us. +Bring the water straightway, and sprinkle my face with it, and when that +is done you and I will be the wisest and greatest men that ever lived, +for I will make you equal to myself in all that I know. So now swear to +do what I have just bid you, and not turn aside a hair’s breadth in the +going and the coming. + +“I swear,” said Gebhart, and crossed his heart. + +Then the master opened the door and entered, with Gebhart close at his +heels. + +In the centre of the room was a great red cock, with eyes that shone +like sparks of fire. So soon as he saw the master he flew at him, +screaming fearfully, and spitting out darts of fire that blazed and +sparkled like lightning. + +It was a dreadful battle between the master and the cock. Up and down +they fought, and here and there. Sometimes the student could see the +wise man whirling and striking with his sword; and then again he would +be hidden in a sheet of flame. But after a while he made a lucky stroke, +and off flew the cock’s head. Then, lo and behold! instead of a cock it +was a great, hairy, black demon that lay dead on the floor. + +But, though the master had conquered, he looked like one sorely sick. He +was just able to stagger to a couch that stood by the wall, and there he +fell and lay, without breath or motion, like one dead, and as white as +wax. + +As soon as Gebhart had gathered his wits together he remembered what the +master had said about the other room. + +The door of it was also of iron. He opened it and passed within, and +there saw two great tables or blocks of polished marble. Upon one was +the dagger and a goblet of gold brimming with water. Upon the other lay +the figure of a woman, and as Gebhart looked at her he thought her more +beautiful than any thought or dream could picture. But her eyes were +closed, and she lay like a lifeless figure of wax. + +After Gebhart had gazed at her a long, long time, he took up the goblet +and the dagger from the table and turned towards the door. + +Then, before he left that place, he thought that he would have just one +more look at the beautiful figure. So he did, and gazed and gazed until +his heart melted away within him like a lump of butter; and, hardly +knowing what he did, he stooped and kissed the lips. + +Instantly he did so a great humming sound filled the whole castle, so +sweet and musical that it made him tremble to listen. Then suddenly the +figure opened its eyes and looked straight at him. + +“At last!” she said; “have you come at last?” + +“Yes,” said Gebhart, “I have come.” + +Then the beautiful woman arose and stepped down from the table to the +floor; and if Gebhart thought her beautiful before, he thought her a +thousand times more beautiful now that her eyes looked into his. + +“Listen,” said she. “I have been asleep for hundreds upon hundreds of +years, for so it was fated to be until he should come who was to bring +me back to life again. You are he, and now you shall live with me +forever. In this castle is the wealth gathered by the king of the genii, +and it is greater than all the riches of the world. It and the castle +likewise shall be yours. I can transport everything into any part of the +world you choose, and can by my arts make you prince or king or emperor. +Come.” + +“Stop,” said Gebhart. “I must first do as my master bade me.” + +He led the way into the other room, the lady following him, and so they +both stood together by the couch where the wise man lay. When the lady +saw his face she cried out in a loud voice: “It is the great master! +What are you going to do?” + +“I am going to sprinkle his face with this water,” said Gebhart. + +“Stop!” said she. “Listen to what I have to say. In your hand you hold +the water of life and the dagger of death. The master is not dead, but +sleeping; if you sprinkle that water upon him he will awaken, young, +handsome and more powerful than the greatest magician that ever lived. +I myself, this castle, and everything that is in it will be his, and, +instead of your becoming a prince or a king or an emperor, he will be so +in your place. That, I say, will happen if he wakens. Now the dagger +of death is the only thing in the world that has power to kill him. You +have it in your hand. You have but to give him one stroke with it +while he sleeps, and he will never waken again, and then all will be +yours--your very own.” + +Gebhart neither spoke nor moved, but stood looking down upon his master. +Then he set down the goblet very softly on the floor, and, shutting his +eyes that he might not see the blow, raised the dagger to strike. + +“That is all your promises amount to,” said Nicholas Flamel the wise +man. “After all, Babette, you need not bring the bread and cheese, for +he shall be no pupil of mine.” + +Then Gebhart opened his eyes. + +There sat the wise man in the midst of his books and bottles and +diagrams and dust and chemicals and cobwebs, making strange figures upon +the table with jackstraws and a piece of chalk. + +And Babette, who had just opened the cupboard door for the loaf of +bread and the cheese, shut it again with a bang, and went back to her +spinning. + +So Gebhart had to go back again to his Greek and Latin and algebra and +geometry; for, after all, one cannot pour a gallon of beer into a quart +pot, or the wisdom of a Nicholas Flamel into such an one as Gebhart. + +As for the name of this story, why, if some promises are not bottles +full of nothing but wind, there is little need to have a name for +anything. + + +“Since we are in the way of talking of fools,” said the Fisherman who +drew the Genie out of the sea--“since we are in the way of talking of +fools, I can tell you a story of the fool of all fools, and how, one +after the other, he wasted as good gifts as a man’s ears ever heard tell +of.” + +“What was his name?” said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the +bramble-bush. + +“That,” said the Fisherman, “I do not know.” + +“And what is this story about?” asked St. George. + +“Tis,” said the Fisherman, “about a hole in the ground.” + +“And is that all?” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +“Nay,” said the Fisherman, blowing a whiff from his pipe; “there were +some things in the hole--a bowl of treasure, an earthen-ware jar, and a +pair of candlesticks.” + +“And what do you call your story,” said St. George. + +“Why,” said the Fisherman, “for lack of a better name I will call it--” + + + + +Good Gifts and a Fool’s Folly. + +Give a fool heaven and earth, and all the stars, and he will make ducks +and drakes of them. + +Once upon a time there was an old man, who, by thrifty living and long +saving, had laid by a fortune great enough to buy ease and comfort and +pleasure for a lifetime. + +By-and-by he died, and the money came to his son, who was of a different +sort from the father; for, what that one had gained by the labor of a +whole year, the other spent in riotous living in one week. + +So it came about in a little while that the young man found himself +without so much as a single penny to bless himself withal. Then his +fair-weather friends left him, and the creditors came and seized upon +his house and his household goods, and turned him out into the cold +wide world to get along as best he might with the other fools who lived +there. + +Now the young spendthrift was a strong, stout fellow, and, seeing +nothing better to do, he sold his fine clothes and bought him a porter’s +basket, and went and sat in the corner of the market-place to hire +himself out to carry this or that for folk who were better off in the +world, and less foolish than he. + +There he sat, all day long, from morning until evening, but nobody came +to hire him. But at last, as dusk was settling, there came along an old +man with beard as white as snow hanging down below his waist. He stopped +in front of the foolish spendthrift, and stood looking at him for a +while; then, at last, seeming to be satisfied, he beckoned with his +finger to the young man. “Come,” said he, “I have a task for you to do, +and if you are wise, and keep a still tongue in your head, I will pay +you as never a porter was paid before.” + +You may depend upon it the young man needed no second bidding to such a +matter. Up he rose, and took his basket, and followed the old man, who +led the way up one street and down another, until at last they came to a +rickety, ramshackle house in a part of the town the young man had never +been before. Here the old man stopped and knocked at the door, which +was instantly opened, as though of itself, and then he entered with +the young spendthrift at his heels. The two passed through a dark +passage-way, and another door, and then, lo and behold! all was changed; +for they had come suddenly into such a place as the young man would not +have believed could be in such a house, had he not seen it with his own +eyes. Thousands of waxen tapers lit the place as bright as day--a great +oval room, floored with mosaic of a thousand bright colors and strange +figures, and hung with tapestries of silks and satins and gold and +silver. The ceiling was painted to represent the sky, through which flew +beautiful birds and winged figures so life-like that no one could tell +that they were only painted, and not real. At the farther side of the +room were two richly cushioned couches, and thither the old man led the +way with the young spendthrift following, wonder-struck, and there the +two sat themselves down. Then the old man smote his hands together, and, +in answer, ten young men and ten beautiful girls entered bearing a feast +of rare fruits and wines which they spread before them, and the young +man, who had been fasting since morning, fell to and ate as he had not +eaten for many a day. + +The old man, who himself ate but little, waited patiently for the other +to end. “Now,” said he, as soon as the young man could eat no more, “you +have feasted and you have drunk; it is time for us to work.” + +Thereupon he rose from the couch and led the way, the young man +following, through an arch door-way into a garden, in the centre of +which was an open space paved with white marble, and in the centre of +that again a carpet, ragged and worn, spread out upon the smooth stones. +Without saying a word, the old man seated himself upon one end of this +carpet, and motioned to the spendthrift to seat himself with his basket +at the other end; then-- + +“Are you ready?” said the old man. + +“Yes,” said the young man, “I am.” + +“Then, by the horn of Jacob,” said the old man, “I command thee, O +Carpet! to bear us over hill and valley, over lake and river, to that +spot whither I wish to go.” Hardly had the words left his mouth when +away flew the carpet, swifter than the swiftest wind, carrying the old +man and the young spendthrift, until at last it brought them to a rocky +desert without leaf or blade of grass to be seen far or near. Then it +descended to where there was a circle of sand as smooth as a floor. + +The old man rolled up the carpet, and then drew from a pouch that hung +at his side a box, and from the box some sticks of sandal and spice +woods, with which he built a little fire. Next he drew from the same +pouch a brazen jar, from which he poured a gray powder upon the blaze. +Instantly there leaped up a great flame of white light and a cloud of +smoke, which rose high in the air, and there spread out until it hid +everything from sight. Then the old man began to mutter spells, and in +answer the earth shook and quaked, and a rumbling as of thunder filled +the air. At last he gave a loud cry, and instantly the earth split open, +and there the young spendthrift saw a trap-door of iron, in which was an +iron ring to lift it by. + +“Look!” said the old man. “Yonder is the task for which I have brought +you; lift for me that trap-door of iron, for it is too heavy for me to +raise, and I will pay you well.” + +And it was no small task, either, for, stout and strong as the young man +was, it was all he could do to lift up the iron plate. But at last up +it swung, and down below he saw a flight of stone steps leading into the +earth. + +The old man drew from his bosom a copper lamp, which he lit at the fire +of the sandal and spice wood sticks, which had now nearly died away. +Then, leading the way, with the young man following close at his heels, +he descended the stairway that led down below. At the bottom the two +entered a great vaulted room, carved out of the solid stone, upon the +walls of which were painted strange pictures in bright colors of kings +and queens, genii and dragons. Excepting for these painted figures, the +vaulted room was perfectly bare, only that in the centre of the floor +there stood three stone tables. Upon the first table stood an iron +candlestick with three branches; upon the second stood an earthen jar, +empty of everything but dust; upon the third stood a brass bowl, a yard +wide and a yard deep, and filled to the brim with shining, gleaming, +dazzling jewels of all sorts. + +“Now,” said the old man to the spendthrift, “I will do to you as I +promised: I will pay you as never man was paid before for such a task. +Yonder upon those three stone tables are three great treasures: choose +whichever one you will, and it is yours.” + +“I shall not be long in choosing,” cried the young spendthrift. “I shall +choose the brass bowl of jewels.” + +The old man laughed. “So be it,” said he. “Fill your basket from the +bowl with all you can carry, and that will be enough, provided you live +wisely, to make you rich for as long as you live.” + +The young man needed no second bidding, but began filling his basket +with both hands, until he had in it as much as he could carry. + +Then the old man, taking the iron candlestick and the earthen jar, led +the way up the stairway again. There the young man lowered the iron +trap-door to its place, and so soon as he had done so the other stamped +his heel upon the ground, and the earth closed of itself as smooth and +level as it had been before. + +The two sat themselves upon the carpet, the one upon the one end, and +the other upon the other. “By the horn of Jacob,” said the old man, +“I command thee, O Carpet! to fly over hill and valley, over lake and +river, until thou hast brought us back whence we came.” + +Away flew the carpet, and in a little time they were back in the garden +from which they had started upon their journey; and there they +parted company. “Go thy way, young man,” said the old graybeard, “and +henceforth try to live more wisely than thou hast done heretofore. +I know well who thou art, and how thou hast lived. Shun thy evil +companions, live soberly, and thou hast enough to make thee rich for as +long as thou livest.” + +“Have no fear,” cried the young man, joyfully. “I have learned a bitter +lesson, and henceforth I will live wisely and well.” + +So, filled with good resolves, the young man went the next day to his +creditors and paid his debts; he bought back the house which his father +had left him, and there began to lead a new life as he had promised. + +But a gray goose does not become white, nor a foolish man a wise one. + +At first he led a life sober enough; but by little and little he began +to take up with his old-time friends again, and by-and-by the money went +flying as merrily as ever, only this time he was twenty times richer +than he had been before, and he spent his money twenty times as fast. +Every day there was feasting and drinking going on in his house, and +roaring and rioting and dancing and singing. The wealth of a king could +not keep up such a life forever, so by the end of a year and a half the +last of the treasure was gone, and the young spendthrift was just as +poor as ever. Then once again his friends left him as they had done +before, and all that he could do was to rap his head and curse his +folly. + +At last, one morning, he plucked up courage to go to the old man who had +helped him once before, to see whether he would not help him again. Rap! +tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should open it but the old man +himself. “Well,” said the graybeard, “what do you want?” + +“I want some help,” said the spendthrift; and then he told him all, and +the old man listened and stroked his beard. + +“By rights,” said he, when the young man had ended, “I should leave you +alone in your folly; for it is plain to see that nothing can cure you of +it. Nevertheless, as you helped me once, and as I have more than I shall +need, I will share what I have with you. Come in and shut the door.” + +He led the way, the spendthrift following, to a little room all of bare +stone, and in which were only three things--the magic carpet, the iron +candlestick, and the earthen jar. This last the old man gave to the +foolish spendthrift. “My friend,” said he, “when you chose the money and +jewels that day in the cavern, you chose the less for the greater. Here +is a treasure that an emperor might well envy you. Whatever you wish for +you will find by dipping your hand into the jar. Now go your way, and +let what was happened cure you of your folly.” + +“It shall,” cried the young man; “never again will I be so foolish as I +have been!” And thereupon he went his way with another pocketful of good +resolves. + +The first thing he did when he reached home was to try the virtue of his +jar. “I should like,” said he, “to have a handful of just such treasure +as I brought from the cavern over yonder.” He dipped his hand into +the jar, and when he brought it out again it was brimful of shining, +gleaming, sparkling jewels. You can guess how he felt when he saw them. + +Well, this time a whole year went by, during which the young man lived +as soberly as a judge. But at the end of the twelvemonth he was so sick +of wisdom that he loathed it as one loathes bitter drink. Then by little +and little he began to take up with his old ways again, and to call his +old cronies around, until at the end of another twelvemonth things were +a hundred times worse and wilder than ever; for now what he had he had +without end. + +One day, when he and a great party of roisterers were shouting and +making merry, he brought out his earthen-ware pot to show them the +wonders of it; and to prove its virtue he gave to each guest whatever he +wanted. “What will you have?”--“A handful of gold.”--“Put your hand in +and get it!”--“What will you have?”--“A fistful of pearls.”--“Put +your fist in and get them!”--“What will you have?”--“A necklace of +diamonds.”--“Dip into the jar and get it.” And so he went from one +to another, and each and every one got what he asked for, and such a +shouting and hubbub those walls had never heard before. + +Then the young man, holding the jar in his hands, began to dance and to +sing: “O wonderful jar! O beautiful jar! O beloved jar!” and so on, his +friends clapping their hands, and laughing and cheering him. At last, +in the height of his folly, he balanced the earthen jar on his head, and +began dancing around and around with it to show his dexterity. + +Smash! crash! The precious jar lay in fifty pieces of the stone floor, +and the young man stood staring at the result of his folly with bulging +eyes, while his friends roared and laughed and shouted louder than ever +over his mishap. And again his treasure and his gay life were gone. + +But what had been hard for him to do before was easier now. At the end +of a week he was back at the old man’s house, rapping on the door. +This time the old man asked him never a word, but frowned as black as +thunder. + +“I know,” said he, “what has happened to you. If I were wise I should +let you alone in your folly; but once more I will have pity on you and +will help you, only this time it shall be the last.” Once more he led +the way to the stone room, where were the iron candlestick and the +magic carpet, and with him he took a good stout cudgel. He stood the +candlestick in the middle of the room, and taking three candles from his +pouch, thrust one into each branch. Then he struck a light, and lit the +first candle. Instantly there appeared a little old man, clad in a long +white robe, who began dancing and spinning around and around like a top. +He lit the second candle, and a second old man appeared, and round and +round he went, spinning like his brother. He lit the third candle, and +a third old man appeared. Around and around and around they spun and +whirled, until the head spun and whirled to look at them. Then the old +graybeard gripped the cudgel in his hand. “Are you ready?” he asked. + +“We are ready, and waiting,” answered the three. Thereupon, without +another word, the graybeard fetched each of the dancers a blow upon the +head with might and main--One! two! three! crack! crash! jingle! + +Lo and behold! Instead of the three dancing men, there lay three great +heaps of gold upon the floor, and the spendthrift stood staring like an +owl. “There,” said the old man, “take what you want, and then go your +way, and trouble me no more.” + +“Well,” said the spendthrift, “of all the wonders that ever I saw, +this is the most wonderful! But how am I to carry my gold away with me, +seeing I did not fetch my basket?” + +“You shall have a basket,” said the old man, “if only you will trouble +me no more. Just wait here a moment until I bring it to you.” + +The spendthrift was left all alone in the room; not a soul was there +but himself. He looked up, and he looked down, and scratched his head. +“Why,” he cried aloud, “should I be content to take a part when I can +have the whole?” + +To do was as easy as to say. He snatched up the iron candlestick, caught +up the staff that the old man had left leaning against the wall, and +seated himself upon the magic carpet. “By the horn of Jacob,” he cried, +“I command thee, O Carpet! to carry me over hill and valley, over lake +and river, to a place where the old man can never find me.” + +Hardly had the words left his mouth than away flew the carpet through +the air, carrying him along with it; away and away, higher than the +clouds and swifter than the wind. Then at last it descended to the earth +again, and when the young spendthrift looked about him, he found himself +in just such a desert place as he and the old man had come to when +they had found the treasure. But he gave no thought to that, and hardly +looked around him to see where he was. All that he thought of was to +try his hand at the three dancers that belonged to the candlestick. +He struck a light, and lit the three candles, and instantly the three +little old men appeared for him just as they had for the old graybeard. +And around and around they spun and whirled, until the sand and dust +spun and whirled along with them. Then the young man grasped his cudgel +tightly. + +Now, he had not noticed that when the old man struck the three dancers +he had held the cudgel in his left hand, for he was not wise enough +to know that great differences come from little matters. He griped the +cudgel in his right hand, and struck the dancers with might and main, +just as the old man had done. Crack! crack! crack! one; two; three. + +Did they change into piles of gold? Not a bit of it! Each of the dancers +drew from under his robe a cudgel as stout and stouter than the one the +young man himself held, and, without a word, fell upon him and began to +beat and drub him until the dust flew. In vain he hopped and howled and +begged for mercy, in vain he tried to defend himself; the three never +stopped until he fell to the ground, and laid there panting and sighing +and groaning; and then they left and flew back with the iron candlestick +and the magic carpet to the old man again. At last, after a great while, +the young spendthrift sat up, rubbing the sore places; but when he +looked around not a sign was to be seen of anything but the stony +desert, without a house or a man in sight. + +Perhaps, after a long time, he found his way home again, and perhaps +the drubbing he had had taught him wisdom; the first is a likely enough +thing to happen, but as for the second, it would need three strong men +to tell it to me a great many times before I would believe it. + +You may smile at this story if you like, but, all the same, as certainly +as there is meat in an egg-shell, so is there truth in this nonsense. +For, “Give a fool heaven and earth,” say I, “and all the stars, and he +will make ducks and drakes of them.” + + +Fortunatus lifted his canican to his lips and took a long, hearty +draught of ale. “Methinks,” said he, “that all your stories have a +twang of the same sort about them. You all of you, except my friend the +Soldier here, play the same tune upon a different fiddle. Nobody comes +to any good.” + +St. George drew a long whiff of his pipe, and then puffed out a cloud of +smoke as big as his head. “Perhaps,” said he to Fortunatus, “you know of +a story which turns out differently. If you do, let us have it, for it +is your turn now.” + +“Very well,” said Fortunatus, “I will tell you a story that turns out as +it should, where the lad marries a beautiful princess and becomes a king +into the bargain.” + +“And what is your story about?” said the Lad who fiddled for Jew in the +bramble-bush. + +“It is,” said Fortunatus, “about--” + + + + +The Good of a Few Words + +There was one Beppo the Wise and another Beppo the Foolish. + +The wise one was the father of the foolish one. + +Beppo the Wise was called Beppo the Wise because he had laid up a great +treasure after a long life of hard work. + +Beppo the Foolish was called Beppo the Foolish because he spent in five +years after his father was gone from this world of sorrow all that the +old man had laid together in his long life of toil. But during that time +Beppo lived as a prince, and the life was never seen in that town before +or since--feasting and drinking and junketing and merrymaking. He had +friends by the dozen and by the scores, and the fame of his doings went +throughout all the land. + +While his money lasted he was called Beppo the Generous. It was only +after it was all gone that they called him Beppo the Foolish. + +So by-and-by the money was spent, and there was an end of it. + +Yes; there was an end of it; and where were all of Beppo’s fair-weather +friends? Gone like the wild-geese in frosty weather. + +“Don’t you remember how I gave you a bagful of gold?” says Beppo the +Foolish. “Won’t you remember me now in my time of need?” + +But the fair-weather friend only laughed in his face. + +“Don’t you remember how I gave you a fine gold chain with a diamond +pendant?” says Beppo to another. “And won’t you lend me a little money +to help me over to-day?” + +But the summer-goose friend only grinned. + +“But what shall I do to keep body and soul together?” says Beppo to a +third. + +The man was a wit. “Go to a shoemaker,” said he, “and let him stitch the +soul fast;” and that was all the good Beppo had of him. + +Then poor Beppo saw that there was not place for him in that town, and +so off he went to seek his fortune else whither, for he saw that there +was nothing to be gained in that place. + +So he journeyed on for a week and a day, and then towards evening he +came to the king’s town. + +There it stood on the hill beside the river--the grandest city in the +kingdom. There were orchards and plantations of trees along the banks +of the stream, and gardens and summer-houses and pavilions. There were +white houses and red roofs and blue skies. Up above on the hill were +olive orchards and fields, and then blue sky again. + +Beppo went into the town, gazing about him with admiration. Houses, +palaces, gardens. He had never seen the like. Stores and shops full +of cloths of velvet and silk and satin; goldsmiths, silversmiths, +jewellers--as though all the riches of the world had been emptied into +the city. Crowds of people--lords, noblemen, courtiers, rich merchants, +and tradesmen. + +Beppo stared about at the fine sights and everybody stared at Beppo, for +his shoes were dusty, his clothes were travel-stained, and a razor had +not touched his face for a week. + +The king of that country was walking in the garden under the shade of +the trees, and the sunlight slanted down upon him, and sparkled upon the +jewels around his neck and on his fingers. Two dogs walked alongside +of him, and a whole crowd of lords and nobles and courtiers came behind +him; first of all the prime-minister with his long staff. + +But for all this fine show this king was not really the king. When the +old king died he left a daughter, and she should have been queen if she +had had her own rights. But this king, who was her uncle, had stepped in +before her, and so the poor princess was pushed aside and was nobody at +all but a princess, the king’s niece. + +She stood on the terrace with her old nurse, while the king walked in +the garden below. + +It had been seven years now since the old king had died, and in that +time she had grown up into a beautiful young woman, as wise as she was +beautiful, and as good as she was wise. Few people ever saw her, but +everybody talked about her in whispers and praised her beauty and +goodness, saying that, if the right were done, she would have her own +and be queen. + +Sometimes the king heard of this (for a king hears everything), and he +grew to hate the princess as a man hates bitter drink. + +The princess looked down from the terrace, and there she saw Beppo +walking along the street, and his shoes were dusty and his clothes were +travel-stained, and a razor had not touched his face for a week. + +“Look at yonder poor man,” she said to her nurse; “yet if I were his +wife he would be greater really than my uncle, the king.” + +The king, walking below in the garden, heard what she said. + +“Say you so!” he called out. “Then we shall try if what you say is +true;” and he turned away, shaking with anger. + +“Alas!” said the princess, “now, indeed, have I ruined myself for good +and all.” + +Beppo was walking along the street looking about him hither and thither, +and thinking how fine it all was. He had no more thought that the king +and the princess were talking about him than the man in the moon. + +Suddenly some one clapped him upon the shoulder. + +Beppo turned around. + +There stood a great tall man dressed all in black. + +“You must come with me,” said he. + +“What do you want with me?” said Beppo. + +“That you shall see for yourself,” said the man. + +“Very well,” said Beppo; “I’d as lief go along with you as anywhere +else.” + +So he turned and followed the man whither he led. + +They went along first one street and then another, and by-and-by they +came to the river, and there was a long wall with a gate in it. The tall +man in black knocked upon the gate, and some one opened it from within. +The man in black entered, and Beppo followed at his heels, wondering +where he was going. + +He was in a garden. There were fruit trees and flowering shrubs and long +marble walks, and away in the distance a great grand palace of white +marble that shone red as fire in the light of the setting sun, but there +was not a soul to be seen anywhere. + +The tall man in black led the way up the long marble walk, past the +fountains and fruit trees and beds of roses, until he had come to the +palace. + +Beppo wondered whether he were dreaming. + +The tall man in black led the way into the palace, but still there was +not a soul to be seen. + +Beppo gazed about him in wonder. There were floors of colored marble, +and ceilings of blue and gold, and columns of carved marble, and +hangings of silk and velvet and silver. + +Suddenly the tall man opened a little door that led into a dark passage, +and Beppo followed him. They went along the passage, and then the man +opened another door. + +Then Beppo found himself in a great vaulted room. There at one end of +the room were three souls. A man sat on the throne, and he was the +king, for he had a crown on his head and a long robe over his shoulders. +Beside him stood a priest, and in front of him stood a beautiful young +woman as white as wax and as still as death. + +Beppo wondered whether he were awake. + +“Come hither,” said the king, in a harsh voice, and Beppo came forward +and kneeled before him. “Take this young woman by the hand,” said the +king. + +Beppo did as he was bidden. + +Her hand was as cold as ice. + +Then, before Beppo knew what was happening, he found that he was being +married. + +It was the princess. + +“Now,” said the king to her when the priest had ended, and he frowned +until his brows were as black as thunder--“now you are married; tell me, +is your husband greater than I?” + +But the princess said never a word, only the tears ran one after another +down her white face. The king sat staring at her and frowning. + +Suddenly some one tapped Beppo upon the shoulder. It was the tall man in +black. + +Beppo knew that he was to follow him again. This time the princess +was to go along. The tall man in black led the way, and Beppo and the +princess followed along the secret passage and up and down the stairs +until at last they came out into the garden again. + +And now the evening was beginning to fall. + +The man led the way down the garden to the river, and still Beppo and +the princess followed him. + +By-and-by they came to the river-side and to a flight of steps, and +there was a little frail boat without sail or oars. + +The tall man in black beckoned towards the boat, and Beppo knew that he +and princess were to enter it. + +As soon as Beppo had helped the princess into the boat the tall man +thrust it out into the stream with his foot, and the boat drifted away +from the shore and out into the river, and then around and around. Then +it floated off down the stream. + +It floated on and on, and the sun set and the moon rose. + +Beppo looked at the princess, and he thought he had never seen any one +so beautiful in all his life. It was all like a dream, and he hoped he +might never waken. But the princess sat there weeping and weeping, and +said nothing. + +The night fell darker and darker, but still Beppo sat looking at the +princess. Her face was as white as silver in the moonlight. The smell +of the flower-gardens came across the river. The boat floated on and on +until by-and-by it drifted to the shore again and among the river reeds, +and there it stopped, and Beppo carried the princess ashore. + +“Listen,” said the princess. “Do you know who I am?” + +“No,” said Beppo, “I do not.” + +“I am the princess,” said she, “the king’s niece; and by rights I should +be queen of this land.” + +Beppo could not believe his ears. + +“It is true that I am married to you,” said she, “but never shall you be +my husband until you are king.” + +“King!” said Beppo; “how can I be king?” + +“You shall be king,” said the princess. + +“But the king is everything,” said Beppo, “and I am nothing at all.” + +“Great things come from small beginnings,” said the princess; “a big +tree from a little seed.” + +Some little distance away from the river was the twinkle of a light, and +thither Beppo led the princess. When the two came to it, they found +it was a little hut, for there were fish-nets hanging outside in the +moonlight. + +Beppo knocked. + +An old woman opened the door. She stared and stared, as well she might, +to see the fine lady in silks and satins with a gold ring upon her +finger, and nobody with her but one who looked like a poor beggar-man. + +“Who are you and what do you want?” said the old woman. + +“Who we are,” said the princess, “does not matter, except that we are +honest folk in trouble. What we want is shelter for the night and food +to eat, and that we will pay for.” + +“Shelter I can give you,” said the old woman, “but little else but a +crust of bread and a cup of water. One time there was enough and plenty +in the house; but now, since my husband has gone and I am left all +alone, it is little I have to eat and drink. But such as I have to give +you are welcome to.” + +Then Beppo and the princess went into the house. + +The next morning the princess called Beppo to her. “Here,” said she, “is +a ring and a letter. Go you into the town and inquire for Sebastian the +Goldsmith. He will know what to do.” + +Beppo took the ring and the letter and started off to town, and it +was not hard for him to find the man he sought, for every one knew of +Sebastian the Goldsmith. He was an old man, with a great white beard and +a forehead like the dome of a temple. He looked at Beppo from head to +foot with eyes as bright as those of a snake; then he took the ring +and the letter. As soon as he saw the ring he raised it to his lips and +kissed it; then he kissed the letter also; then he opened it and read +it. + +He turned to Beppo and bowed very low. “My lord,” said he, “I will do as +I am commanded. Will you be pleased to follow me?” + +He led the way into an inner room. There were soft rugs upon the floor, +and around the walls were tapestries. There were couches and silken +cushions. Beppo wondered what it all meant. + +Sebastian the Goldsmith clapped his hands together. A door opened, and +there came three black slaves into the room. The Goldsmith spoke to them +in a strange language, and the chief of the three black slaves bowed in +reply. Then he and the others led Beppo into another room where there +was a marble bath of tepid water. They bathed him and rubbed him with +soft linen towels; then they shaved the beard from his cheeks and chin +and trimmed his hair; then they clothed him in fine linen and a plain +suit of gray and Beppo looked like a new man. + +Then when all this was done the chief of the blacks conducted Beppo back +to Sebastian the Goldsmith. There was a fine feast spread, with fruit +and wine. Beppo sat down to it, and Sebastian the Goldsmith stood and +served him with a napkin over his arm. + +Then Beppo was to return to the princess again. + +A milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith’s door, a +servant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away. + +When he returned to the fisherman’s hut the princess was waiting for +him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of milk, and +some sweet cakes. + +“Listen,” said she; “to-day the king hunts in the forest over yonder. Go +you thither with this. The king will be hot and thirsty, and weary with +the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He will eat and drink, and in +gratitude he will offer you something in return. Take nothing of him, +but ask him this: that he allow you once every three days to come to the +palace, and that he whisper these words in your ear so that no one else +may hear them--‘A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are +ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.’” + +“Why should I do that?” said Beppo. + +“You will see,” said the princess. + +Beppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a princess and +must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at her bidding. + +It was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the forest, +and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the men and the +winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited there for maybe an +hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were nearer and sometimes the +sounds were farther away. Presently they came nearer and nearer, and +then all of a sudden the king came riding out of the forest, the hounds +hunting hither and thither, and the lords and nobles and courtiers +following him. + +The king’s face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his forehead +was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered the tray. The +king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank the milk and ate +three of the cakes. + +“Who was it ordered you to bring this to me?” said he to Beppo. + +“No one,” said Beppo; “I brought it myself.” + +The king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him. + +“Thou hast given me pleasure and comfort,” said he; “ask what thou wilt +in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it.” + +“I will have only this,” said Beppo: “that your majesty will allow me +once every three days to come to the palace, and that then you will take +me aside and will whisper these words into my ear so that no one else +may hear them--A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are +ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.’” + +The king burst out laughing. “Why,” said he, “what is this foolish thing +you ask of me? If you had asked for a hundred pieces of gold you should +have had them. Think better, friend, and ask something of more worth +than this foolish thing.” + +“Please your majesty,” said Beppo, “I ask nothing else.” + +The king laughed again. “Then you shall have what you ask,” said he, and +he rode away. + +The next morning the princess said to Beppo: “This day you shall go and +claim the king’s promise of him. Take this ring and this letter again to +Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will fit you with clothes in which to appear +before the king. Then go to the king’s palace that he may whisper those +words he has to say into your ear.” + +Once more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the Goldsmith +kissed the princess’s ring and letter, and read what she had written. + +Again the black slaves took Beppo to the bath, only this time they clad +him in a fine suit of velvet and hung a gold chain around his neck. +After that Sebastian the Goldsmith again served a feast to Beppo, and +waited upon him while he ate and drank. + +In front of the house a noble horse, as black as jet, was waiting to +carry Beppo to the palace, and two servants dressed in velvet livery +were waiting to attend him. + +So Beppo rode away, and many people stopped to look at him. + +He came to the palace, and the king was giving audience. Beppo went into +the great audience-chamber. It was full of people--lords and nobles and +rich merchants and lawyers. + +Beppo did not know how to come to the king, so he stood there and waited +and waited. The people looked at him and whispered to one another: “Who +is that young man?” “Whence comes he?” Then one said: “Is not he +the young man who served the king with cakes and milk in the forest +yesterday?” + +Beppo stood there gazing at the king. By-and-by the king suddenly looked +up and caught sight of him. He gazed at Beppo for a moment or two and +then he knew him. Then he smiled and beckoned to him. + +“Aye, my foolish benefactor,” said he, aloud, “is it thou, and art +thou come so soon to redeem thy promise? Very well; come hither, I have +something to say to thee.” + +Beppo came forward, and everybody stared. He came close to the king, and +the king laid his hand upon his shoulder. Then he leaned over to Beppo +and whispered in his ear: “A word, a word, only a few words; if they be +spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well, they are more precious +than gold and jewels.” Then he laughed. “Is that what you would have me +say?” said he. + +“Yes, majesty,” said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew. + +But, lo and behold, what a change! + +Suddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The crowd +drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as he went +along. + +“Did you not see the king whisper to him,” said one. “What could it be +that the king said?” said another. “This must be a new favorite,” said a +third. + +He had come into the palace Beppo the Foolish; he went forth Beppo the +Great Man, and all because of a few words the king had whispered in his +ear. + +Three days passed, and then Beppo went again to the Goldsmith’s with the +ring and a letter from the princess. This time Sebastian the Goldsmith +fitted him with a suit of splendid plum-colored silk and gave him a +dappled horse, and again Beppo and his two attendants rode away to the +palace. And this time every one knew him, and as he went up the steps +into the palace all present bowed to him. The king saw him as soon as he +appeared, and when he caught sight of him he burst out laughing. + +“Aye,” said he, “I was looking for thee today, and wondering how soon +thou wouldst come. Come hither till I whisper something in thine ear.” + +Then all the lords and nobles and courtiers and ministers drew back, and +Beppo went up to the king. + +The king laughed and laughed. He laid his arm over Beppo’s shoulder, +and again he whispered in his ear: “A word, a word, only a few words; if +they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well, they are more +precious than gold and jewels.” + +Then he released Beppo, and Beppo withdrew. + +So it continued for three months. Every three days Beppo went to the +palace, and the king whispered the words in his ear. Beppo said nothing +to any one, and always went away as soon as the king had whispered to +him. + +Then at last the princess said to him: “Now the time is ripe for doing. +Listen! To-day when you go to the palace fix your eyes, when the +king speaks to you, upon the prime-minister, and shake your head. The +prime-minister will ask you what the king said. Say nothing to him but +this: Alas, my poor friend!’” + +It was all just as the princess had said. + +The king was walking in the garden, with his courtiers and ministers +about him. Beppo came to him, and the king, as he always did, laid his +hand upon Beppo’s shoulder and whispered in his ear: “A word, a word, +only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken +well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.” + +While the king was saying these words to Beppo, Beppo was looking +fixedly at the prime-minister. While he did so he shook his head three +times. Then he bowed low and walked away. + +He had not gone twenty paces before some one tapped him upon the arm; +it was the prime-minister. Beppo gazed fixedly at him. “Alas, my poor +friend!” said he. + +The prime-minister turned pale. “It was, then, as I thought,” said he. +“The king spoke about me. Will you not tell me what he said?” + +Beppo shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” said he, and then he +walked on. + +The prime-minister still followed him. + +“My lord,” said he, “I have been aware that his majesty has not been the +same to me for more than a week past. If it was about the princess, pray +tell his majesty that I meant nothing ill when I spoke of her to him.” + +Beppo shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” he said. + +The prime-minister’s lips trembled. “My lord,” said he, “I have always +had the kindest regard for you, and if there is anything in my power +that I can do for you I hope you will command me. I know how much you +are in his majesty’s confidence. Will you not speak a few words to set +the matter straight?” + +Beppo again shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” said he, and then he +got upon his horse and rode away. + +Three days passed. + +“This morning,” said the princess, “when you go to the king, look at +the prime-minister when the king speaks to you, and smile. The +prime-minister will again speak to you, and this time say, It is well, +and I wish you joy.’ Take what he gives you, for it will be of use.” + +Again all happened just as the princess said. + +Beppo came to the palace, and again the king whispered in his ear. As +he did so Beppo looked at the prime-minister and smiled, and then he +withdrew. + +The prime-minister followed him. He trembled. “It is well,” said Beppo, +“and I wish you joy.” + +The prime-minister grasped his hand and wrung it. “My lord,” said he, +“how can I express my gratitude! The palace of my son that stands by the +river--I would that you would use it for your own, if I may be so bold +as to offer it to you.” + +“I will,” said Beppo, “use it as my own.” + +The prime-minister wrung his hand again, and then Beppo rode away. + +The next time that Beppo spoke to the king, at the princess’s bidding, +he looked at the lord-treasurer, and said, as he had said to the +prime-minister, “Alas, my poor friend!” + +When he rode away he left the lord-treasurer as white as ashes to the +very lips. + +Three days passed, and then, while the king talked to Beppo, Beppo +looked at the lord-treasurer and smiled. + +The lord-treasurer followed him to the door of the palace. + +“It is well, and I wish you joy,” said Beppo. + +The treasurer offered him a fortune. + +The next time it was the same with the captain of the guards. First +Beppo pitied him, and then he wished him joy. + +“My lord,” said the captain of the guards, “my services are yours at any +time.” + +Then the same thing happened to the governor of the city, then to this +lord, and then to that lord. + +Beppo grew rich and powerful beyond measure. + +Then one day the princess said: “Now we will go into the town, and to +the palace of the prime-minister’s son, which the prime-minister gave +you, for the time is ripe for the end.” + +In a few days all the court knew that Beppo was living like a prince in +the prime-minister’s palace. The king began to wonder what it all meant, +and how all such good-fortune had come to Beppo. He had grown very tired +of always speaking to Beppo the same words. + +But Beppo was now great among the great; all the world paid court to +him, and bowed down to him, almost as they did before the king. + +“Now,” said the princess, “the time has come to strike. Bid all the +councillors, and all the lords, and all the nobles to meet here three +days hence, for it is now or never that you shall win all and become +king.” + +Beppo did as she bade. He asked all of the great people of the kingdom +to come to him, and they came. When they were all gathered together at +Beppo’s house, they found two thrones set as though for a king and a +queen, but there was no sign of Beppo, and everybody wondered what it +all meant. + +Suddenly the door opened and Beppo came into the room, leading by the +hand a lady covered with a veil from head to foot. + +Everybody stopped speaking and stood staring while Beppo led the veiled +lady up to one of the thrones. He seated himself upon the other. + +The lady stood up and dropped her veil, and then every one knew her. + +It was the princess. “Do you not know me?” said she; “I am the queen, +and this is my husband. He is your king.” + +All stood silent for a moment, and then a great shout went up. “Long +live the queen! Long live the king!” + +The princess turned to the captain of the guards. “You have offered your +services to my husband,” said she; “his commands and my commands are +that you march to the palace and cast out him who hath no right there.” + +“It shall be done,” said the captain of the guards. + +All the troops were up in arms, and the town was full of tumult and +confusion. About midnight they brought the false king before King Beppo +and the queen. The false king stood there trembling like a leaf. The +queen stood gazing at him steadily. “Behold, this is the husband that +thou gavest me,” said she. “It is as I said; he is greater than thou. +For, lo, he is king! What art thou?” + +The false king was banished out of the country, and the poor fisherman’s +wife, who had entertained the princess for all this time, came to live +at the palace, where all was joy and happiness. + + +“Friend,” said St. George, “I like your story. Ne’th’less, tis like a +strolling peddler, in that it carries a great deal of ills to begin +with, to get rid of them all before it gets to the end of its journey. +However, tis as you say--it ends with everybody merry and feasting, and +so I like it. But now methinks our little friend yonder is big with a +story of his own;” and he pointed, as he spoke, with the stem of his +pipe to a little man whom I knew was the brave Tailor who had killed +seven flies at a blow, for he still had around his waist the belt with +the legend that he himself had worked upon it. + +“Aye,” piped the Tailor in a keen, high voice, “tis true I have a story +inside of me. Tis about another tailor who had a great, big, black, ugly +demon to wait upon him and to sew his clothes for him.” + +“And the name of that story, my friend,” said the Soldier who had +cheated the Devil, “is what?” + +“It hath no name,” piped the little Tailor, “but I will give it one, and +it shall be--” + + + + +Woman’s Wit. + +When man’s strength fails, woman’s wit prevails. + +In the days when the great and wise King Solomon lived and ruled, evil +spirits and demons were as plentiful in the world as wasps in summer. + +So King Solomon, who was so wise and knew so many potent spells that he +had power over evil such as no man has had before or since, set himself +to work to put those enemies of mankind out of the way. Some he conjured +into bottles, and sank into the depths of the sea; some he buried in +the earth; some he destroyed altogether, as one burns hair in a +candle-flame. + +Now, one pleasant day when King Solomon was walking in his garden with +his hands behind his back, and his thoughts busy as bees with this or +that, he came face to face with a Demon, who was a prince of his kind. +“Ho, little man!” cried the evil spirit, in a loud voice, “art not thou +the wise King Solomon who conjures my brethren into brass chests and +glass bottles? Come, try a fall at wrestling with me, and whoever +conquers shall be master over the other for all time. What do you say to +such an offer as that?” + +“I say aye!” said King Solomon, and, without another word, he stripped +off his royal robes and stood bare breasted, man to man with the other. + +The world never saw the like of that wrestling match betwixt the king +and the Demon, for they struggled and strove together from the seventh +hour in the morning to the sunset in the evening, and during that time +the sky was clouded over as black as night, and the lightning forked +and shot, and the thunder roared and bellowed, and the earth shook and +quaked. + +But at last the king gave the enemy an under twist, and flung him down +on the earth so hard that the apples fell from the trees; and then, +panting and straining, he held the evil one down, knee on neck. +Thereupon the sky presently cleared again, and all was as pleasant as a +spring day. + +King Solomon bound the Demon with spells, and made him serve him for +seven years. First, he had him build a splendid palace, the like of +which was not to be seen within the bounds of the seven rivers; then he +made him set around the palace a garden, such as I for one wish I may +see some time or other. Then, when the Demon had done all that the king +wished, the king conjured him into a bottle, corked it tightly, and set +the royal seal on the stopper. Then he took the bottle a thousand miles +away into the wilderness, and, when no man was looking, buried it in the +ground, and this is the way the story begins. + +Well, the years came and the years went, and the world grew older and +older, and kept changing (as all things do but two), so that by-and-by +the wilderness where King Solomon had hid the bottle became a great +town, with people coming and going, and all as busy as bees about their +own business and other folks’ affairs. + +Among these towns-people was a little Tailor, who made clothes for many +a worse man to wear, and who lived all alone in a little house with no +one to darn his stockings for him, and no one to meddle with his coming +and going, for he was a bachelor. + +The little Tailor was a thrifty soul, and by hook and crook had laid by +enough money to fill a small pot, and then he had to bethink himself of +some safe place to hide it. So one night he took a spade and a lamp and +went out in the garden to bury his money. He drove his spade into the +ground--and click! He struck something hard that rang under his foot +with a sound as of iron. “Hello!” said he, “what have we here?” and if +he had known as much as you and I do, he would have filled in the earth, +and tramped it down, and have left that plate of broth for somebody else +to burn his mouth with. + +As it was, he scraped away the soil, and then he found a box of adamant, +with a ring in the lid to lift it by. The Tailor clutched the ring and +bent his back, and up came the box with the damp earth sticking to it. +He cleaned the mould away, and there he saw, written in red letters, +these words: + +“Open not.” + +You may be sure that after he had read these words he was not long in +breaking open the lid of the box with his spade. + +Inside the first box he found a second, and upon it the same words: + +“Open not.” + +Within the second box was another, and within that still another, until +there were seven in all, and on each was written the same words: + +“Open not.” + +Inside the seventh box was a roll of linen, and inside that a bottle +filled with nothing but blue smoke; and I wish that bottle had burned +the Tailor’s fingers when he touched it. + +“And is this all?” said the little Tailor, turning the bottle upside +down and shaking it, and peeping at it by the light of the lamp. “Well, +since I have gone so far I might as well open it, as I have already +opened the seven boxes.” Thereupon he broke the seal that stoppered it. + +Pop! out flew the cork, and--puff! out came the smoke; not all at once, +but in a long thread that rose up as high as the stars, and then spread +until it hid their light. + +The Tailor stared and goggled and gaped to see so much smoke come out of +such a little bottle, and, as he goggled and stared, the smoke began to +gather together again, thicker and thicker, and darker and darker, until +it was as black as ink. Then out from it there stepped one with eyes +that shone like sparks of fire, and who had a countenance so terrible +that the Tailor’s skin quivered and shrivelled, and his tongue clove to +the roof of his mouth at the sight of it. + +“Who are thou?” said the terrible being, in a voice that made the very +marrow of the poor Tailor’s bones turn soft from terror. + +“If you please, sir,” said he, “I am only a little tailor.” + +The evil being lifted up both hands and eyes. “How wonderful,” he cried, +“that one little tailor can undo in a moment that which took the wise +Solomon a whole day to accomplish, and in the doing of which he wellnigh +broke the sinews of his heart!” Then, turning to the Tailor, who stood +trembling like a rabbit, “Hark thee!” said he. “For two thousand years +I lay there in that bottle, and no one came nigh to aid me. Thou hast +liberated me, and thou shalt not go unrewarded. Every morning at the +seventh hour I will come to thee, and I will perform for thee whatever +task thou mayst command me. But there is one condition attached to +the agreement, and woe be to thee if that condition is broken. If any +morning I should come to thee, and thou hast no task for me to do, I +shall wring thy neck as thou mightest wring the neck of a sparrow.” + Thereupon he was gone in an instant, leaving the little Tailor half dead +with terror. + +Now it happened that the prime-minister of that country had left an +order with the Tailor for a suit of clothes, so the next morning, when +the Demon came, the little man set him to work on the bench, with his +legs tucked up like a journey-man tailor. “I want,” said he, “such and +such a suit of clothes.” + +“You shall have them,” said the Demon; and thereupon he began snipping +in the air, and cutting most wonderful patterns of silks and satins out +of nothing at all, and the little Tailor sat and gaped and stared. Then +the Demon began to drive the needle like a spark of fire--the like was +never seen in all the seven kingdoms, for the clothes seemed to make +themselves. + +At last, at the end of a little while, the Demon stood up and brushed +his hands. “They are done,” said he, and thereupon he instantly +vanished. But the Tailor cared little for that, for upon the bench there +lay such a suit of clothes of silk and satin stuff, sewed with threads +of gold and silver and set with jewels, as the eyes of man never saw +before; and the Tailor packed them up and marched off with them himself +to the prime-minister. + +The prime-minister wore the clothes to court that very day, and before +evening they were the talk of the town. All the world ran to the Tailor +and ordered clothes of him, and his fortune was made. Every day the +Demon created new suits of clothes out of nothing at all, so that the +Tailor grew as rich as a Jew, and held his head up in the world. + +As time went along he laid heavier and heavier tasks upon the Demon’s +back, and demanded of him more and more; but all the while the Demon +kept his own counsel, and said never a word. + +One morning, as the Tailor sat in his shop window taking the world +easy--for he had little or nothing to do now--he heard a great hubbub in +the street below, and when he looked down he saw that it was the king’s +daughter passing by. It was the first time that the Tailor had seen her, +and when he saw her his heart stood still within him, and then began +fluttering like a little bird, for one so beautiful was not to be met +with in the four corners of the world. Then she was gone. + +All that day the little Tailor could do nothing but sit and think of the +princess, and the next morning when the Demon came he was thinking of +her still. + +“What hast thou for me to do to-day?” said the Demon, as he always said +of a morning. + +The little Tailor was waiting for the question. + +“I would like you,” said he, “to send to the king’s palace, and to ask +him to let me have his daughter for my wife.” + +“Thou shalt have thy desire,” said the Demon. Thereupon he smote his +hands together like a clap of thunder, and instantly the walls of the +room clove asunder, and there came out four-and-twenty handsome youths, +clad in cloth of gold and silver. After these four-and-twenty there came +another one who was the chief of them all, and before whom, splendid as +they were, the four-and-twenty paled like stars in daylight. “Go to the +king’s palace,” said the Demon to that one, “and deliver this message: +The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than a +King asks for his daughter to wife.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the other, and bowed his forehead to the +earth. + +Never was there such a hubbub in the town as when those five-and-twenty, +in their clothes of silver and gold, rode through the streets to the +king’s palace. As they came near, the gates of the palace flew open +before them, and the king himself came out to meet them. The leader +of the five-and-twenty leaped from his horse, and, kissing the ground +before the king, delivered his message: “The Tailor of Tailors, the +Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King asks for thy daughter to +wife.” + +When the king heard what the messenger said, he thought and pondered +a long time. At last he said, “If he who sent you is the Master of +Masters, and greater than a king, let him send me an asking gift such as +no king could send.” + +“It shall be as you desire,” said the messenger, and thereupon the +five-and-twenty rode away as they had come, followed by crowds of +people. + +The next morning when the Demon came the tailor was ready and waiting +for him. “What hast thou for me to do to-day?” said the Evil One. + +“I want,” said the tailor, “a gift to send to the king such as no other +king could send him.” + +“Thou shalt have thy desire,” said the Demon. Thereupon he smote his +hands together, and summoned, not five-and-twenty young men, but fifty +youths, all clad in clothes more splendid than the others. + +All of the fifty sat upon coal-black horses, with saddles of silver and +housings of silk and velvet embroidered with gold. In the midst of all +the five-and-seventy there rode a youth in cloth of silver embroidered +in pearls. In his hand he bore something wrapped in a white napkin, and +that was the present for the king such as no other king could give. So +said the Demon: “Take it to the royal palace, and tell his majesty that +it is from the Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater +than a King.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the young man, and then they all rode away. + +When they came to the palace the gates flew open before them, and +the king came out to meet them. The young man who bore the present +dismounted and prostrated himself in the dust, and, when the king bade +him arise, he unwrapped the napkin, and gave to the king a goblet +made of one single ruby, and filled to the brim with pieces of gold. +Moreover, the cup was of such a kind that whenever it was emptied of its +money it instantly became full again. “The Tailor of Tailors, the Master +of Masters, and One Greater than a King sends your majesty this goblet, +and bids me, his ambassador, to ask for your daughter,” said the young +man. + +When the king saw what had been sent him he was filled with amazement. +“Surely,” said he to himself, “there can be no end to the power of one +who can give such a gift as this.” Then to the messenger, “Tell your +master that he shall have my daughter for his wife if he will build +over yonder a palace such as no man ever saw or no king ever lived in +before.” + +“It shall be done,” said the young man, and then they all went away, as +the others had done the day before. + +The next morning when the Demon appeared the Tailor was ready for him. +“Build me,” said he, “such and such a palace in such and such a place.” + +And the Demon said, “It shall be done.” He smote his hands together, and +instantly there came a cloud of mist that covered and hid the spot where +the palace was to be built. Out from the cloud there came such a banging +and hammering and clapping and clattering as the people of that town +never heard before. Then when evening had come the cloud arose, and +there, where the king had pointed out, stood a splendid palace as white +as snow, with roofs and domes of gold and silver. As the king stood +looking and wondering at this sight, there came five hundred young men +riding, and one in the midst of all who wore a golden crown on his head, +and upon his body a long robe stiff with diamonds and pearls. “We come,” + said he, “from the Tailor of Tailors, and Master of Masters, and One +Greater than a King, to ask you to let him have your daughter for his +wife.” + +“Tell him to come!” cried the king, in admiration, “for the princess is +his.” + +The next morning when the Demon came he found the Tailor dancing and +shouting for joy. “The princess is mine!” he cried, “so make me ready +for her.” + +“It shall be done,” said the Demon, and thereupon he began to make the +Tailor ready for his wedding. He brought him to a marble bath of water, +in which he washed away all that was coarse and ugly, and from which the +little man came forth as beautiful as the sun. Then the Demon clad +him in the finest linen, and covered him with clothes such as even the +emperor of India never wore. Then he smote his hands together, and the +wall of the tailor-shop opened as it had done twice before, and there +came forth forty slaves clad in crimson, and bearing bowls full of money +in their hands. After them came two leading a horse as white as snow, +with a saddle of gold studded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds +and sapphires. After came a body-guard of twenty warriors clad in gold +armor. Then the Tailor mounted his horse and rode away to the king’s +palace, and as he rode the slaves scattered the money amongst the crowd, +who scrambled for it and cheered the Tailor to the skies. + +That night the princess and the Tailor were married, and all the town +was lit with bonfires and fireworks. The two rode away in the midst of +a great crowd of nobles and courtiers to the palace which the Demon had +built for the Tailor; and, as the princess gazed upon him, she thought +that she had never beheld so noble and handsome a man as her husband. So +she and the Tailor were the happiest couple in the world. + +But the next morning the Demon appeared as he had appeared ever since +the Tailor had let him out of the bottle, only now he grinned till his +teeth shone and his face turned black. “What hast thou for me to do?” + said he, and at the words the Tailor’s heart began to quake, for he +remembered what was to happen to him when he could find the Demon no +more work to do--that his neck was to be wrung--and now he began to see +that he had all that he could ask for in the world. Yes; what was there +to ask for now? + +“I have nothing more for you to do,” said he to the Demon; “you have +done all that man could ask--you may go now.” + +“Go!” cried the Demon, “I shall not go until I have done all that I have +to do. Give me work, or I shall wring your neck.” And his fingers began +to twitch. + +Then the Tailor began to see into what a net he had fallen. He began to +tremble like one in an ague. He turned his eyes up and down, for he +did not know where to look for aid. Suddenly, as he looked out of the +window, a thought struck him. “Maybe,” thought he, “I can give the Demon +such a task that even he cannot do it. Yes, yes!” he cried, “I have +thought of something for you to do. Make me out yonder in front of my +palace a lake of water a mile long and a mile wide, and let it be +lined throughout with white marble, and filled with water as clear as +crystal.” + +“It shall be done,” said the Demon. As he spoke he spat in the air, +and instantly a thick fog arose from the earth and hid everything from +sight. Then presently from the midst of the fog there came a great +noise of chipping and hammering, of digging and delving, of rushing and +gurgling. All day the noise and the fog continued, and then at sunset +the one ceased and the other cleared away. The poor Tailor looked out +the window, and when he saw what he saw his teeth chattered in his head, +for there was a lake a mile long and a mile broad, lined within with +white marble, and filled with water as clear as crystal, and he knew +that the Demon would come the next morning for another task to do. + +That night he slept little or none, and when the seventh hour of the +morning came the castle began to rock and tremble, and there stood the +Demon, and his hair bristled and his eyes shone like sparks of fire. +“What hast thou for me to do?” said he, and the poor Tailor could do +nothing but look at him with a face as white as dough. + +“What hast thou for me to do?” said the Demon again, and then at last +the Tailor found his wits and his tongue from sheer terror. “Look!” said +he, “at the great mountain over yonder; remove it, and make in its place +a level plain with fields and orchards and gardens.” And he thought to +himself when he had spoken, “Surely, even the Demon cannot do that.” + +“It shall be done,” said the Demon, and, so saying, he stamped his heel +upon the ground. Instantly the earth began to tremble and quake, and +there came a great rumbling like the sound of thunder. A cloud of +darkness gathered in the sky, until at last all was as black as the +blackest midnight. Then came a roaring and a cracking and a crashing, +such as man never heard before. All day it continued, until the time +of the setting of the sun, when suddenly the uproar ceased, and the +darkness cleared away; and when the Tailor looked out of the window +the mountain was gone, and in its place were fields and orchards and +gardens. + +It was very beautiful to see, but when the Tailor beheld it his knees +began to smite together, and the sweat ran down his face in streams. All +that night he walked up and down and up and down, but he could not think +of one other task for the Demon to do. + +When the next morning came the Demon appeared like a whirlwind. His +face was as black as ink and smoke, and sparks of fire flew from his +nostrils. + +“What have you for me to do?” cried he. + +“I have nothing for you to do!” piped the poor Tailor. + +“Nothing?” cried the Demon. + +“Nothing.” + +“Then prepare to die.” + +“Stop!” cried the Tailor, falling on his knees, “let me first see my +wife.” + +“So be it,” said the Demon, and if he had been wiser he would have said +“No.” + +When the Tailor came to the princess, he flung himself on his face, and +began to weep and wail. The princess asked him what was the matter, and +at last, by dint of question, got the story from him, piece by piece. +When she had it all she began laughing. “Why did you not come to me +before?” said she, “instead of making all this trouble and uproar for +nothing at all? I will give the Monster a task to do.” She plucked a +single curling hair from her head. “Here,” said she, “let him take this +hair and make it straight.” + +The Tailor was full of doubt; nevertheless, as there was nothing better +to do, he took it to the Demon. + +“Hast thou found me a task to do?” cried the Demon. + +“Yes,” said the Tailor. “It is only a little thing. Here is a hair from +my wife’s head; take it and make it straight.” + +When the Demon heard what was the task that the Tailor had set him to do +he laughed aloud; but that was because he did not know. He took the +hair and stroked it between his thumb and finger, and, when he done, it +curled more than ever. Then he looked serious, and slapped it between +his palms, and that did not better matters, for it curled as much as +ever. Then he frowned, and, began beating the hair with his palm upon +his knees, and that only made it worse. All that day he labored and +strove at his task trying to make that one little hair straight, and, +when the sun set, there was the hair just as crooked as ever. Then, as +the great round sun sank red behind the trees, the Demon knew that he +was beaten. “I am conquered! I am conquered!” he howled, and flew away, +bellowing so dreadfully that all the world trembled. + +So ends the story, with only this to say: + +Where man’s strength fails, woman’s wit prevails. + +For, to my mind, the princess--not to speak of her husband the little +Tailor--did more with a single little hair and her mother wit than King +Solomon with all his wisdom. + + +“Whose turn is it next to tell us a story?” said Sindbad the Sailor. + +“Twas my turn,” said St. George; “but here be two ladies present, and +neither hath so much as spoken a word of a story for all this time. If +you, madam,” said he to Cinderella, “will tell us a tale, I will gladly +give up my turn to you.” + +The Soldier who cheated the Devil took the pipe out of his mouth and +puffed away a cloud of smoke. “Aye,” said he, “always remember the +ladies, say I. That is a soldier’s trade.” + +“Very well, then; if it is your pleasure,” said Cinderella. “I will tell +you a story, and it shall be of a friend of mine and of how she looked +after her husband’s luck. She was,” said Cinderella, “a princess, and +her father was a king.” + +“And what is your story about?” said Sindbad the Sailor. + +“It is,” said Cinderella, “about--” + + + + +A Piece of Good Luck + +There were three students who were learning all that they could. The +first was named Joseph, the second was named John, and the third was +named Jacob Stuck. They studied seven long years under a wise master, +and in that time they learned all that their master had to teach them +of the wonderful things he knew. They learned all about geometry, +they learned all about algebra, they learned all about astronomy, they +learned all about the hidden arts, they learned all about everything, +except how to mend their own hose and where to get cabbage to boil in +the pot. + +And now they were to go out into the world to practice what they knew. +The master called the three students to him--the one named Joseph, the +second named John, and the third named Jacob Stuck--and said he to them, +said he: “You have studied faithfully and have learned all that I have +been able to teach you, and now you shall not go out into the world with +nothing at all. See; here are three glass balls, and that is one for +each of you. Their like is not to be found in the four corners of the +world. Carry the balls wherever you go, and when one of them drops to +the ground, dig, and there you will certainly find a treasure.” + +So the three students went out into the wide world. + +Well, they travelled on and on for day after day, each carrying his +glass ball with him wherever he went. They travelled on and on for I +cannot tell how long, until one day the ball that Joseph carried slipped +out of his fingers and fell to the ground. “I’ve found a treasure!” + cried Joseph, “I’ve found a treasure!” + +The three students fell to work scratching and digging where the ball +had fallen, and by-and-by they found something. It was a chest with an +iron ring in the lid. It took all three of them to haul it up out of +the ground, and when they did so they found it was full to the brim of +silver money. + +Were they happy? Well, they were happy! They danced around and around +the chest, for they had never seen so much money in all their lives +before. “Brothers,” said Joseph, in exultation, “here is enough for all +hands, and it shall be share and share alike with us, for haven’t we +studied seven long years together?” And so for a while they were as +happy as happy could be. + +But by-and-by a flock of second thoughts began to buzz in the heads +of John and Jacob Stuck. “Why,” said they, “as for that, to be sure, a +chest of silver money is a great thing for three students to find who +had nothing better than book-learning to help them along; but who knows +but that there is something better even than silver money out in the +wide world?” So, after all, and in spite of the chest of silver money +they had found, the two of them were for going on to try their fortunes +a little farther. And as for Joseph, why, after all, when he came to +think of it, he was not sorry to have his chest of silver money all to +himself. + +So the two travelled on and on for a while, here and there and +everywhere, until at last it was John’s ball that slipped out of his +fingers and fell to the ground. They digged where it fell, and this time +it was a chest of gold money they found. + +Yes, a chest of gold money! A chest of real gold money! They just stood +and stared and stared, for if they had not seen it they would not have +believed that such a thing could have been in the world. “Well, Jacob +Stuck,” said John, “it was well to travel a bit farther than poor Joseph +did, was it not? What is a chest of silver money to such a treasure as +this? Come, brother, here is enough to make us both rich for all the +rest of our lives. We need look for nothing better than this.” + +But no; by-and-by Jacob Stuck began to cool down again, and now that +second thoughts were coming to him he would not even be satisfied with a +half-share of a chest of gold money. No; maybe there might be something +better than even a chest full of gold money to be found in the world. +As for John, why, after all, he was just as well satisfied to keep +his treasure for himself. So the two shook hands, and then Jacob Stuck +jogged away alone, leaving John stuffing his pockets and his hat full of +gold money, and I should have liked to have been there, to have had my +share. + +Well, Jacob Stuck jogged on and on by himself, until after a while he +came to a great, wide desert, where there was not a blade or a stick to +be seen far or near. He jogged on and on, and he wished he had not +come there. He jogged on and on when all of a sudden the glass ball he +carried slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground. + +“Aha!” said he to himself, “now maybe I shall find some great treasure +compared to which even silver and gold are as nothing at all.” + +He digged down into the barren earth of the desert; and he digged and he +digged, but neither silver nor gold did he find. He digged and digged; +and by-and-by, at last, he did find something. And what was it? Why, +nothing but something that looked like a piece of blue glass not a +big bigger than my thumb. “Is that all?” said Jacob Stuck. “And have I +travelled all this weary way and into the blinding desert only for this? +Have I passed by silver and gold enough to make me rich for all my life, +only to find a little piece of blue glass?” + +Jacob Stuck did not know what he had found. I shall tell you what it +was. It was a solid piece of good luck without flaw or blemish, and it +was almost the only piece I ever heard tell of. Yes; that was what it +was--a solid piece of good luck; and as for Jacob Stuck, why, he was +not the first in the world by many and one over who has failed to know +a piece of good luck when they have found it. Yes; it looked just like a +piece of blue glass no bigger than my thumb, and nothing else. + +“Is that all?” said Jacob Stuck. “And have I travelled all this weary +way and into the blinding desert only for this? Have I passed by silver +and gold enough to make me rich for all my life, only to find a little +piece of blue glass?” + +He looked at the bit of glass, and he turned it over and over in his +hand. It was covered with dirt. Jacob Stuck blew his breath upon it, and +rubbed it with his thumb. + +Crack! dong! bang! smash! + +Upon my word, had a bolt of lightning burst at Jacob Stuck’s feet he +could not have been more struck of a heap. For no sooner had he rubbed +the glass with his thumb than with a noise like a clap of thunder there +instantly stood before him a great, big man, dressed in clothes as red +as a flame, and with eyes that shone sparks of fire. It was the Genie of +Good Luck. It nearly knocked Jacob Stuck off his feet to see him there +so suddenly. + +“What will you have?” said the Genie. “I am the slave of good luck. +Whosoever holds that piece of crystal in his hand him must I obey in +whatsoever he may command.” + +“Do you mean that you are my servant and that I am your master?” said +Jacob Stuck. + +“Yes; command and I obey.” + +“Why, then,” said Jacob Stuck, “I would like you to help me out of this +desert place, if you can do so, for it is a poor spot for any Christian +soul to be.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie, and, before Jacob Stuck knew what +had happened to him, the Genie had seized him and was flying with him +through the air swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth +seemed to slide away beneath. On and on flew the flame-colored Genie +until at last he set Jacob down in a great meadow where there was a +river. Beyond the river were the white walls and grand houses of the +king’s town. + +“Hast thou any further commands?” said the Genie. + +“Tell me what you can do for me?” said Jacob Stuck. + +“I can do whatsoever thou mayest order me to do,” said the Genie. + +“Well, then,” said Jacob Stuck, “I think first of all I would like to +have plenty of money to spend.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie, and, as he spoke, he reached up +into the air and picked out a purse from nothing at all. “Here,” said +he, “is the purse of fortune; take from it all that thou needest and +yet it will always be full. As long as thou hast it thou shalt never be +lacking riches.” + +“I am very much obliged to you,” said Jacob Stuck. “I’ve learned +geometry and algebra and astronomy and the hidden arts, but I never +heard tell of anything like this before.” + +So Jacob Stuck went into the town with all the money he could spend, and +such a one is welcome anywhere. He lacked nothing that money could buy. +He bought himself a fine house; he made all the friends he wanted, +and more; he lived without a care, and with nothing to do but to enjoy +himself. That was what a bit of good luck did for him. + +Now the princess, the daughter of the king of that town, was the most +beautiful in all the world, but so proud and haughty that her like was +not to be found within the bounds of all the seven rivers. So proud +was she and so haughty that she would neither look upon a young man +nor allow any young man to look upon her. She was so particular that +whenever she went out to take a ride a herald was sent through the +town with a trumpet ordering that every house should be closed and that +everybody should stay within doors, so that the princess should run no +risk of seeing a young man, or that no young man by chance should see +her. + +One day the herald went through the town blowing his trumpet and calling +in a great, loud voice: “Close your doors! Close your windows! Her +highness, the princess, comes to ride; let no man look upon her on pain +of death!” + +Thereupon everybody began closing their doors and windows, and, as it +was with the others, so it was with Jacob Stuck’s house; it had, like +all the rest, to be shut up as tight as a jug. + +But Jacob Stuck was not satisfied with that; not he. He was for seeing +the princess, and he was bound he would do so. So he bored a hole +through the door, and when the princess came riding by he peeped out at +her. + +Jacob Stuck thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all his +life. It was like the sunlight shining in his eyes, and he almost +sneezed. Her cheeks were like milk and rose-leaves, and her hair like +fine threads of gold. She sat in a golden coach with a golden crown +upon her head, and Jacob Stuck stood looking and looking until his heart +melted within him like wax in the oven. Then the princess was gone, and +Jacob Stuck stood there sighing and sighing. + +“Oh, dear! Dear!” said he, “what shall I do? For, proud as she is, I +must see her again or else I will die of it.” + +All that day he sat sighing and thinking about the beautiful princess, +until the evening had come. Then he suddenly thought of his piece of +good luck. He pulled his piece of blue glass out of his pocket and +breathed upon it and rubbed it with his thumb, and instantly the Genie +was there. + +This time Jacob Stuck was not frightened at all. + +“What are thy commands, O master?” said the Genie. + +“O Genie!” said Jacob Stuck, “I have seen the princess to-day, and it +seems to me that there is nobody like her in all the world. Tell me, +could you bring her here so that I might see her again?” + +“Yes,” said the Genie, “I could.” + +“Then do so,” said Jacob Stuck, “and I will have you prepare a grand +feast, and have musicians to play beautiful music, for I would have the +princess sup with me.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie. As he spoke he smote his hands +together, and instantly there appeared twenty musicians, dressed in +cloth of gold and silver. With them they brought hautboys and fiddles, +big and little, and flageolets and drums and horns, and this and that to +make music with. Again the Genie smote his hands together, and instantly +there appeared fifty servants dressed in silks and satins and spangled +with jewels, who began to spread a table with fine linen embroidered +with gold, and to set plates of gold and silver upon it. The Genie smote +his hands together a third time, and in answer there came six servants. +They led Jacob Stuck into another room, where there was a bath of musk +and rose-water. They bathed him in the bath and dressed him in clothes +like an emperor, and when he came out again his face shone, and he was +as handsome as a picture. + +Then by-and-by he knew that the princess was coming, for suddenly there +was the sound of girls’ voices singing and the twanging of stringed +instruments. The door flew open, and in came a crowd of beautiful girls, +singing and playing music, and after them the princess herself, more +beautiful than ever. But the proud princess was frightened! Yes, she +was. And well she might be, for the Genie had flown with her through the +air from the palace, and that is enough to frighten anybody. Jacob Stuck +came to her all glittering and shining with jewels and gold, and took +her by the hand. He led her up the hall, and as he did so the musicians +struck up and began playing the most beautiful music in the world. Then +Jacob Stuck and the princess sat down to supper and began eating and +drinking, and Jacob Stuck talked of all the sweetest things he could +think of. Thousands of wax candles made the palace bright as day, and as +the princess looked about her she thought she had never seen anything so +fine in all the world. After they had eaten their supper and ended with +a dessert of all kinds of fruits and of sweetmeats, the door opened and +there came a beautiful young serving-lad, carrying a silver tray, upon +which was something wrapped in a napkin. He kneeled before Jacob Stuck +and held the tray, and from the napkin Jacob Stuck took a necklace of +diamonds, each stone as big as a pigeon’s egg. + +“This is to remind you of me,” said Jacob Stuck, “when you have gone +home again.” And as he spoke he hung it around the princess’s neck. + +Just then the clock struck twelve. + +Hardly had the last stroke sounded when every light was snuffed out, and +all was instantly dark and still. Then, before she had time to think, +the Genie of Good Luck snatched the princess up once more and flew back +to the palace more swiftly than the wind. And, before the princess knew +what had happened to her, there she was. + +It was all so strange that the princess might have thought it was a +dream, only for the necklace of diamonds, the like of which was not to +be found in all the world. + +The next morning there was a great buzzing in the palace, you may be +sure. The princess told all about how she had been carried away during +the night, and had supped in such a splendid palace, and with such +a handsome man dressed like an emperor. She showed her necklace of +diamonds, and the king and his prime-minister could not look at it or +wonder at it enough. The prime-minister and the king talked and talked +the matter over together, and every now and then the proud princess put +in a word of her own. + +“Anybody,” said the prime-minister, “can see with half an eye that it is +all magic, or else it is a wonderful piece of good luck. Now, I’ll tell +you what shall be done,” said he: “the princess shall keep a piece of +chalk by her; and, if she is carried away again in such a fashion, she +shall mark a cross with the piece of chalk on the door of the house to +which she is taken. Then we shall find the rogue that is playing such a +trick, and that quickly enough.” + +“Yes,” said the king; “that is very good advice.” + +“I will do it,” said the princess. + +All that day Jacob Stuck sat thinking and thinking about the beautiful +princess. He could not eat a bite, and he could hardly wait for the +night to come. As soon as it had fallen, he breathed upon his piece of +glass and rubbed his thumb upon it, and there stood the Genie of Good +Luck. + +“I’d like the princess here again,” said he, “as she was last night, +with feasting and drinking, such as we had before.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie. + +And as it had been the night before, so it was now. The Genie brought +the princess, and she and Jacob Stuck feasted together until nearly +midnight. Then, again, the door opened, and the beautiful servant-lad +came with the tray and something upon it covered with a napkin. Jacob +Stuck unfolded the napkin, and this time it was a cup made of a single +ruby, and filled to the brim with gold money. And the wonder of the +cup was this: that no matter how much money you took out of it, it was +always full. “Take this,” said Jacob Stuck, “to remind you of me.” Then +the clock struck twelve, and instantly all was darkness, and the Genie +carried the princess home again. + +But the princess had brought her piece of chalk with her, as the +prime-minister had advised; and in some way or other she contrived, +either in coming or going, to mark a cross upon the door of Jacob +Stuck’s house. + +But, clever as she was, the Genie of Good Luck was more clever still. He +saw what the princess did; and, as soon as he had carried her home, he +went all through the town and marked a cross upon every door, great and +small, little and big, just as the princess had done upon the door of +Jacob Stuck’s house, only upon the prime-minister’s door he put two +crosses. The next morning everybody was wondering what all the crosses +on the house-doors meant, and the king and the prime-minister were no +wiser than they had been before. + +But the princess had brought the ruby cup with her, and she and the king +could not look at it and wonder at it enough. + +“Pooh!” said the prime-minister; “I tell you it is nothing else in the +world but just a piece of good luck--that is all it is. As for the +rogue who is playing all these tricks, let the princess keep a pair of +scissors by her, and, if she is carried away again, let her contrive +to cut off a lock of his hair from over the young man’s right ear. Then +to-morrow we will find out who has been trimmed.” + +Yes, the princess would do that; so, before evening was come, she tied a +pair of scissors to her belt. + +Well, Jacob Stuck could hardly wait for the night to come to summon the +Genie of Good Luck. “I want to sup with the princess again,” said he. + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie of Good Luck; and, as soon as he +had made everything ready, away he flew to fetch the princess again. + +Well, they feasted and drank, and the music played, and the candles were +as bright as day, and beautiful girls sang and danced, and Jacob Stuck +was as happy as a king. But the princess kept her scissors by her, and, +when Jacob Stuck was not looking, she contrived to snip off a lock of +his hair from over his right ear, and nobody saw what was done but the +Genie of Good Luck. + +And it came towards midnight. + +Once more the door opened, and the beautiful serving-lad came into the +room, carrying the tray of silver with something upon it wrapped in a +napkin. This time Jacob Stuck gave the princess an emerald ring for a +keepsake, and the wonder of it was that every morning two other rings +just like it would drop from it. + +Then twelve o’clock sounded, the lights went out, and the Genie took the +princess home again. + +But the Genie had seen what the princess had done. As soon as he had +taken her safe home, he struck his palms together and summoned all his +companions. “Go,” said he, “throughout the town and trim a lock of hair +from over the right ear of every man in the whole place;” and so they +did, from the king himself to the beggar-man at the gates. As for the +prime-minister, the Genie himself trimmed two locks of hair from him, +one from over each of his ears, so that the next morning he looked as +shorn as an old sheep. In the morning all the town was in a hubbub, and +everybody was wondering how all the men came to have their hair clipped +as it was. But the princess had brought the lock of Jacob Stuck’s hair +away with her wrapped up in a piece of paper, and there it was. + +As for the ring Jacob Stuck had given to her, why, the next morning +there were three of them, and the king thought he had never heard tell +of such a wonderful thing. + +“I tell you,” said the prime-minister, “there is nothing in it but a +piece of good luck, and not a grain of virtue. It’s just a piece of good +luck--that’s all it is.” + +“No matter,” said the king; “I never saw the like of it in all my life +before. And now, what are we going to do?” + +The prime-minister could think of nothing. + +Then the princess spoke up. “Your majesty,” she said, “I can find the +young man for you. Just let the herald go through the town and proclaim +that I will marry the young man to whom this lock of hair belongs, and +then we will find him quickly enough.” + +“What!” cried the prime-minister; “will, then, the princess marry a man +who has nothing better than a little bit of good luck to help him along +in the world?” + +“Yes,” said the princess, “I shall if I can find him.” + +So the herald was sent out around the town proclaiming that the princess +would marry the man to whose head belonged the lock of hair that she +had. + +A lock of hair! Why, every man had lost a lock of hair! Maybe the +princess could fit it on again, and then the fortune of him to whom it +belonged would be made. All the men in the town crowded up to the king’s +palace. But all for no use, for never a one of them was fitted with his +own hair. + +As for Jacob Stuck, he too had heard what the herald had proclaimed. +Yes; he too had heard it, and his heart jumped and hopped within him +like a young lamb in the spring-time. He knew whose hair it was the +princess had. Away he went by himself, and rubbed up his piece of blue +glass, and there stood the Genie. + +“What are thy commands?” said he. + +“I am,” said Jacob Stuck, “going up to the king’s palace to marry the +princess, and I would have a proper escort.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie. + +He smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared a score of +attendants who took Jacob Stuck, and led him into another room, and +began clothing him in a suit so magnificent that it dazzled the eyes to +look at it. He smote his hands together again, and out in the court-yard +there appeared a troop of horsemen to escort Jacob Stuck to the palace, +and they were all clad in gold-and-silver armor. He smote his hands +together again, and there appeared twenty-and-one horses--twenty as +black as night and one as white as milk, and it twinkled and sparkled +all over with gold and jewels, and at the head of each horse of the +one-and-twenty horses stood a slave clad in crimson velvet to hold the +bridle. Again he smote his hands together, and there appeared in the +ante-room twenty handsome young men, each with a marble bowl filled with +gold money, and when Jacob Stuck came out dressed in his fine clothes +there they all were. + +Jacob Stuck mounted upon the horse as white as milk, the young +men mounted each upon one of the black horses, the troopers in the +gold-and-silver armor wheeled their horses, the trumpets blew, and away +they rode--such a sight as was never seen in that town before, when they +had come out into the streets. The young men with the basins scattered +the gold money to the people, and a great crowd ran scrambling after, +and shouted and cheered. + +So Jacob Stuck rode up to the king’s palace, and the king himself came +out to meet him with the princess hanging on his arm. + +As for the princess, she knew him the moment she laid eyes on him. She +came down the steps, and set the lock of hair against his head, where +she had trimmed it off the night before, and it fitted and matched +exactly. “This is the young man,” said she, “and I will marry him, and +none other.” + +But the prime-minister whispered and whispered in the king’s ear: “I +tell you this young man is nobody at all,” said he, “but just some +fellow who has had a little bit of good luck.” + +“Pooh!” said the king, “stuff and nonsense! Just look at all the gold +and jewels and horses and men. What will you do,” said he to Jacob +Stuck, “if I let you marry the princess?” + +“I will,” said Jacob Stuck, “build for her the finest palace that ever +was seen in all this world.” + +“Very well,” said the king, “yonder are those sand hills over there. You +shall remove them and build your palace there. When it is finished you +shall marry the princess.” For if he does that, thought the king to +himself, it is something better than mere good luck. + +“It shall,” said Jacob Stuck, “be done by tomorrow morning.” + +Well, all that day Jacob Stuck feasted and made merry at the king’s +palace, and the king wondered when he was going to begin to build his +palace. But Jacob Stuck said nothing at all; he just feasted and drank +and made merry. When night had come, however, it was all different. Away +he went by himself, and blew his breath upon his piece of blue glass, +and rubbed it with his thumb. Instantly there stood the Genie before +him. “What wouldst thou have?” said he. + +“I would like,” said Jacob Stuck, “to have the sand hills over yonder +carried away, and a palace built there of white marble and gold and +silver, such as the world never saw before. And let there be gardens +planted there with flowering plants and trees, and let there be +fountains and marble walks. And let there be servants and attendants +in the palace of all sorts and kinds--men and women. And let there be +a splendid feast spread for to-morrow morning, for then I am going to +marry the princess.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie, and instantly he was gone. + +All night there was from the sand hills a ceaseless sound as of +thunder--a sound of banging and clapping and hammering and sawing and +calling and shouting. All that night the sounds continued unceasingly, +but at daybreak all was still, and when the sun arose there stood the +most splendid palace it ever looked down upon; shining as white as +snow, and blazing with gold and silver. All around it were gardens and +fountains and orchards. A great highway had been built between it and +the king’s palace, and all along the highway a carpet of cloth of gold +had been spread for the princess to walk upon. + +Dear! Dear! How all the town stared with wonder when they saw such a +splendid palace standing where the day before had been nothing but naked +sand hills! The folk flocked in crowds to see it, and all the country +about was alive with people coming and going. As for the king, he could +not believe his eyes when he saw it. He stood with the princess and +looked and looked. Then came Jacob Stuck. “And now,” said he, “am I to +marry the princess?” + +“Yes,” cried the king in admiration, “you are!” + +So Jacob Stuck married the princess, and a splendid wedding it was. That +was what a little bit of good luck did for him. + +After the wedding was over, it was time to go home to the grand new +palace. Then there came a great troop of horsemen with shining armor and +with music, sent by the Genie to escort Jacob Stuck and the princess and +the king and the prime-minister to Jacob Stuck’s new palace. They rode +along over the carpet of gold, and such a fine sight was never seen +in that land before. As they drew near to the palace a great crowd of +servants, clad in silks and satins and jewels, came out to meet them, +singing and dancing and playing on harps and lutes. The king and the +princess thought that they must be dreaming. + +“All this is yours,” said Jacob Stuck to the princess; and he was that +fond of her, he would have given her still more if he could have thought +of anything else. + +Jacob Stuck and the princess, and the king and the prime-minister, all +went into the palace, and there was a splendid feast spread in plates of +pure gold and silver, and they all four sat down together. + +But the prime-minister was as sour about it all as a crab-apple. All the +time they were feasting he kept whispering and whispering in the king’s +ear. “It is all stuff and nonsense,” said he, “for such a man as Jacob +Stuck to do all this by himself. I tell you, it is all a piece of good +luck, and not a bit of merit in it.” + +He whispered and whispered, until at last the king up and spoke. “Tell +me, Jacob Stuck,” he said, “where do you get all these fine things?” + +“It all comes of a piece of good luck,” said Jacob Stuck. + +“That is what I told you,” said the prime-minister. + +“A piece of good luck!” said the king. “Where did you come across such a +piece of good luck?” + +“I found it,” said Jacob Stuck. + +“Found it!” said the king; “and have you got it with you now?” + +“Yes, I have,” said Jacob Stuck; “I always carry it about with me;” and +he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out his piece of blue +crystal. + +“That!” said the king. “Why, that is nothing but a piece of blue glass!” + +“That,” said Jacob Stuck, “is just what I thought till I found out +better. It is no common piece of glass, I can tell you. You just breathe +upon it so, and rub your thumb upon it thus, and instantly a Genie +dressed in red comes to do all that he is bidden. That is how it is.” + +“I should like to see it,” said the king. + +“So you shall,” said Jacob Stuck; “here it is,” said he; and he reached +it across the table to the prime-minister to give it to the king. + +Yes, that was what he did; he gave it to the prime-minister to give it +to the king. The prime-minister had been listening to all that had been +said, and he knew what he was about. He took what Jacob Stuck gave him, +and he had never had such a piece of luck come to him before. + +And did the prime-minister give it to the king, as Jacob Stuck had +intended? Not a bit of it. No sooner had he got it safe in his hand, +than he blew his breath upon it and rubbed it with his thumb. + +Crack! dong! boom! crash! + +There stood the Genie, like a flash and as red as fire. The princess +screamed out and nearly fainted at the sight, and the poor king sat +trembling like a rabbit. + +“Whosoever possesses that piece of blue crystal,” said the Genie, in a +terrible voice, “him must I obey. What are thy commands?” + +“Take this king,” cried the prime-minister, “and take Jacob Stuck, and +carry them both away into the farthest part of the desert whence the +fellow came.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie; and instantly he seized the +king in one hand and Jacob Stuck in the other, and flew away with them +swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth seemed to slide +away beneath them like a cloud. On and on he flew until he had come to +the farthest part of the desert. There he sat them both down, and it was +as pretty a pickle as ever the king or Jacob Stuck had been in, in all +of their lives. Then the Genie flew back again whence he had come. + +There sat the poor princess crying and crying, and there sat the +prime-minister trying to comfort her. “Why do you cry?” said he; “why +are you afraid of me? I will do you no harm. Listen,” said he; “I will +use this piece of good luck in a way that Jacob Stuck would never have +thought of. I will make myself king. I will conquer the world, and make +myself emperor over all the earth. Then I will make you my queen.” + +But the poor princess cried and cried. + +“Hast thou any further commands?” said the Genie. + +“Not now,” said the prime-minister; “you may go now;” and the Genie +vanished like a puff of smoke. + +But the princess cried and cried. + +The prime-minister sat down beside her. “Why do you cry?” said he. + +“Because I am afraid of you,” said she. + +“And why are you afraid of me?” said he. + +“Because of that piece of blue glass. You will rub it again, and then +that great red monster will come again to frighten me.” + +“I will rub it no more,” said he. + +“Oh, but you will,” said she; “I know you will.” + +“I will not,” said he. + +“But I can’t trust you,” said she “as long as you hold it in your hand.” + +“Then I will lay it aside,” said he, and so he did. Yes, he did; and he +is not the first man who has thrown aside a piece of good luck for the +sake of a pretty face. “Now are you afraid of me?” said he. + +“No, I am not,” said she; and she reached out her hand as though to give +it to him. But, instead of doing so, she snatched up the piece of blue +glass as quick as a flash. + +“Now,” said she, “it is my turn;” and then the prime-minister knew that +his end had come. + +She blew her breath upon the piece of blue glass and rubbed her thumb +upon it. Instantly, as with a clap of thunder, the great red Genie stood +before her, and the poor prime-minister sat shaking and trembling. + +“Whosoever hath that piece of blue crystal,” said the Genie, “that one +must I obey. What are your orders, O princess?” + +“Take this man,” cried the princess, “and carry him away into the desert +where you took those other two, and bring my father and Jacob Stuck back +again.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie, and instantly he seized the +prime-minister, and, in spite of the poor man’s kicks and struggles, +snatched him up and flew away with him swifter than the wind. On and on +he flew until he had come to the farthest part of the desert, and +there sat the king and Jacob Stuck still thinking about things. Down he +dropped the prime-minister, up he picked the king and Jacob Stuck, +and away he flew swifter than the wind. On and on he flew until he had +brought the two back to the palace again; and there sat the princess +waiting for them, with the piece of blue crystal in her hand. + +“You have saved us!” cried the king. + +“You have saved us!” cried Jacob Stuck. “Yes, you have saved us, and you +have my piece of good luck into the bargain. Give it to me again.” + +“I will do nothing of the sort,” said the princess. “If the men folk +think no more of a piece of good luck than to hand it round like a bit +of broken glass, it is better for the women folk to keep it for them.” + +And there, to my mind, she brewed good common-sense, that needed no +skimming to make it fit for Jacob Stuck, or for any other man, for the +matter of that. + +And now for the end of this story. Jacob Stuck lived with his princess +in his fine palace as grand as a king, and when the old king died he +became the king after him. + +One day there came two men travelling along, and they were footsore and +weary. They stopped at Jacob Stuck’s palace and asked for something to +eat. Jacob Stuck did not know them at first, and then he did. One was +Joseph and the other was John. + +This is what had happened to them: + +Joseph had sat and sat where John and Jacob Stuck had left him on his +box of silver money, until a band of thieves had come along and robbed +him of it all. John had carried away his pockets and his hat full of +gold, and had lived like a prince as long as it had lasted. Then he had +gone back for more, but in the meantime some rogue had come along and +had stolen it all. Yes; that was what had happened, and now they were as +poor as ever. + +Jacob Stuck welcomed them and brought them in and made much of them. + +Well, the truth is truth, and this is it: It is better to have a little +bit of good luck to help one in what one undertakes than to have a chest +of silver or a chest of gold. + + +“And now for your story, holy knight,” said Fortunatus to St. George +“for twas your turn, only for this fair lady who came in before you.” + +“Aye, aye,” said the saint; “I suppose it was, in sooth, my turn. +Ne’th’less, it gives me joy to follow so close so fair and lovely a +lady.” And as he spoke he winked one eye at Cinderella, beckoned towards +her with his cup of ale, and took a deep draught to her health. “I shall +tell you,” said he, as soon as he had caught his breath again, “a +story about an angel and a poor man who travelled with him, and all the +wonderful things the poor man saw the angel do.” + +“That,” said the Blacksmith who made Death sit in his pear-tree until +the wind whistled through his ribs--“that, methinks, is a better thing +to tell for a sermon than a story.” + +“Whether or no that shall be so,” said St. George, “you shall presently +hear for yourselves.” + +He took another deep draught of ale, and then cleared his throat. + +“Stop a bit, my friend,” said Ali Baba. “What is your story about?” + +“It is,” said St. George, “about--” + + + + +The Fruit of Happiness + +Once upon a time there was a servant who served a wise man, and cooked +for him his cabbage and his onions and his pot-herbs and his broth, day +after day, time in and time out, for seven years. + +In those years the servant was well enough contented, but no one likes +to abide in the same place forever, and so one day he took it into his +head that he would like to go out into the world to see what kind of a +fortune a man might make there for himself. “Very well,” says the wise +man, the servant’s master; “you have served me faithfully these seven +years gone, and now that you ask leave to go you shall go. But it is +little or nothing in the way of money that I can give you, and so you +will have to be content with what I can afford. See, here is a little +pebble, and its like is not to be found in the seven kingdoms, for +whoever holds it in his mouth can hear while he does so all that the +birds and the beasts say to one another. Take it--it is yours, and, if +you use it wisely, it may bring you a fortune.” + +The servant would rather have had the money in hand than the magic +pebble, but, as nothing better was to be had, he took the little stone, +and, bidding his master good-bye, trudged out into the world, to seek +his fortune. Well, he jogged on and on, paying his way with the few +pennies he had saved in his seven years of service, but for all of his +travelling nothing of good happened to him until, one morning, he came +to a lonely place where there stood a gallows, and there he sat him down +to rest, and it is just in such an unlikely place as this that a man’s +best chance of fortune comes to him sometimes. + +As the servant sat there, there came two ravens flying, and lit upon the +cross-beam overhead. There they began talking to one another, and the +servant popped the pebble into his mouth to hear what they might say. + +“Yonder is a traveller in the world,” said the first raven. + +“Yes,” said the second, “and if he only knew how to set about it, his +fortune is as good as made.” + +“How is that so?” said the first raven. + +“Why, thus,” said the second. “If he only knew enough to follow yonder +road over the hill, he would come by-and-by to a stone cross where two +roads meet, and there he would find a man sitting. If he would ask it of +him, that man would lead him to the garden where the fruit of happiness +grows.” + +“The fruit of happiness!” said the first raven, “and of what use would +the fruit of happiness be to him?” + +“What use? I tell you, friend, there is no fruit in the world like that, +for one has only to hold it in one’s hand and wish, and whatever one +asks for one shall have.” + +You may guess that when the servant understood the talk of the ravens he +was not slow in making use of what he heard. Up he scrambled, and away +he went as fast as his legs could carry him. On and on he travelled, +until he came to the cross-roads and the stone cross of which the raven +spoke, and there, sure enough, sat the traveller. He was clad in a +weather-stained coat, and he wore dusty boots, and the servant bade him +good-morning. + +How should the servant know that it was an angel whom he beheld, and not +a common wayfarer? + +“Whither away, comrade,” asked the traveller. + +“Out in the world,” said the servant, “to seek my fortune. And what I +want to know is this--will you guide me to where I can find the fruit of +happiness?” + +“You ask a great thing of me,” said the other; “nevertheless, since you +do ask it, it is not for me to refuse, though I may tell you that many +a man has sought for that fruit, and few indeed have found it. But if +I guide you to the garden where the fruit grows, there is one condition +you must fulfil: many strange things will happen upon our journey +between here and there, but concerning all you see you must ask not a +question and say not a word. Do you agree to that?” + +“Yes,” said the servant, “I do.” + +“Very well,” said his new comrade; “then let us be jogging, for I have +business in the town to-night, and the time is none too long to get +there.” + +So all the rest of that day they journeyed onward together, until, +towards evening, they came to a town with high towers and steep roofs +and tall spires. The servant’s companion entered the gate as though +he knew the place right well, and led the way up one street and down +another, until, by-and-by, they came to a noble house that stood a +little apart by itself, with gardens of flowers and fruit-trees all +around it. There the travelling companion stopped, and, drawing out a +little pipe from under his jacket, began playing so sweetly upon it that +he made one’s heart stand still to listen to the music. + +Well, he played and played until, by-and-by, the door opened, and out +came a serving-man. “Ho, piper!” said he, “would you like to earn good +wages for your playing?” + +“Yes,” said the travelling companion, “I would, for that is why I came +hither.” + +“Then follow me,” said the servant, and thereupon the travelling +companion tucked away his pipe and entered, with the other at his heels. + +The house-servant led the way from one room to another, each grander +than the one they left behind, until at last he came to a great hall +where dozens of servants were serving a fine feast. But only one man +sat at table--a young man with a face so sorrowful that it made a body’s +heart ache to look upon him. “Can you play good music, piper?” said he. + +“Yes,” said the piper, “that I can, for I know a tune that can cure +sorrow. But before I blow my pipe I and my friend here must have +something to eat and drink, for one cannot play well with an empty +stomach.” + +“So be it,” said the young man; “sit down with me and eat and drink.” + +So the two did without second bidding, and such food and drink the +serving-man had never tasted in his life before. And while they were +feasting together the young man told them his story, and why it was +he was so sad. A year before he had married a young lady, the most +beautiful in all that kingdom, and had friends and comrades and all +things that a man could desire in the world. But suddenly everything +went wrong; his wife and he fell out and quarrelled until there was +no living together, and she had to go back to her old home. Then his +companions deserted him, and now he lived all alone. + +“Yours is a hard case,” said the travelling companion, “but it is not +past curing.” Thereupon he drew out his pipes and began to play, and +it was such a tune as no man ever listened to before. He played and he +played, and, after a while, one after another of those who listened to +him began to get drowsy. First they winked, then they shut their eyes, +and then they nodded until all were as dumb as logs, and as sound asleep +as though they would never waken again. Only the servant and the piper +stayed awake, for the music did not make them drowsy as it did the rest. +Then, when all but they two were tight and fast asleep, the travelling +companion arose, tucked away his pipe, and, stepping up to the young +man, took from off his finger a splendid ruby ring, as red as blood +and as bright as fire, and popped the same into his pocket. And all the +while the serving-man stood gaping like a fish to see what his comrade +was about. “Come,” said the travelling companion, “it is time we were +going,” and off they went, shutting the door behind them. + +As for the serving-man, though he remembered his promise and said +nothing concerning what he had beheld, his wits buzzed in his head like +a hive of bees, for he thought that of all the ugly tricks he had seen, +none was more ugly than this--to bewitch the poor sorrowful young man +into a sleep, and then to rob him of his ruby ring after he had fed them +so well and had treated them so kindly. + +But the next day they jogged on together again until by-and-by they came +to a great forest. There they wandered up and down till night came upon +them and found them still stumbling onward through the darkness, while +the poor serving-man’s flesh quaked to hear the wild beasts and the +wolves growling and howling around them. + +But all the while the angel--his travelling companion--said never a +word; he seemed to doubt nothing nor fear nothing, but trudged straight +ahead until, by-and-by, they saw a light twinkling far away, and, when +they came to it, they found a gloomy stone house, as ugly as eyes ever +looked upon. Up stepped the servant’s comrade and knocked upon the +door--rap! tap! tap! By-and-by it was opened a crack, and there stood an +ugly old woman, blear-eyed and crooked and gnarled as a winter twig. +But the heart within her was good for all that. “Alas, poor folk!” + she cried, “why do you come here? This is a den where lives a band of +wicked thieves. Every day they go out to rob and murder poor travellers +like yourselves. By-and-by they will come back, and when they find you +here they will certainly kill you.” + +“No matter for that,” said the travelling companion; “we can go no +farther to-night, so you must let us in and hide us as best you may.” + +And in he went, as he said, with the servant at his heels trembling like +a leaf at what he had heard. The old woman gave them some bread and +meat to eat, and then hid them away in the great empty meal-chest in the +corner, and there they lay as still as mice. + +By-and-by in came the gang of thieves with a great noise and uproar, +and down they sat to their supper. The poor servant lay in the chest +listening to all they said of the dreadful things they had done that +day--how they had cruelly robbed and murdered poor people. Every word +that they said he heard, and he trembled until his teeth chattered in +his head. But all the same the robbers knew nothing of the two being +there, and there they lay until near the dawning of the day. Then the +travelling companion bade the servant be stirring, and up they got, and +out of the chest they came, and found all the robbers sound asleep and +snoring so that the dust flew. + +“Stop a bit,” said the angel--the travelling companion--“we must pay +them for our lodging.” + +As he spoke he drew from his pocket the ruby ring which he had stolen +from the sorrowful young man’s finger, and dropped it into the cup from +which the robber captain drank. Then he led the way out of the house, +and, if the serving-man had wondered the day before at that which the +comrade did, he wondered ten times more to see him give so beautiful a +ring to such wicked and bloody thieves. + +The third evening of their journey the two travellers came to a little +hut, neat enough, but as poor as poverty, and there the comrade knocked +upon the door and asked for lodging. In the house lived a poor man and +his wife; and, though the two were as honest as the palm of your hand, +and as good and kind as rain in spring-time, they could hardly scrape +enough of a living to keep body and soul together. Nevertheless, they +made the travellers welcome, and set before them the very best that was +to be had in the house; and, after both had eaten and drunk, they showed +them to bed in a corner as clean as snow, and there they slept the night +through. + +But the next morning, before the dawning of the day, the travelling +companion was stirring again. “Come,” said he; “rouse yourself, for I +have a bit of work to do before I leave this place.” + +And strange work it was! When they had come outside of the house, he +gathered together a great heap of straw and sticks of wood, and stuffed +all under the corner of the house. Then he struck a light and set fire +to it, and, as the two walked away through the gray dawn, all was a red +blaze behind them. + +Still, the servant remembered his promise to his travelling comrade, +and said never a word or asked never a question, though all that day he +walked on the other side of the road, and would have nothing to say or +to do with the other. But never a whit did his comrade seem to think +of or to care for that. On they jogged, and, by the time evening was at +hand, they had come to a neat cottage with apple and pear trees around +it, all as pleasant as the eye could desire to see. In this cottage +lived a widow and her only son, and they also made the travellers +welcome, and set before them a good supper and showed them to a clean +bed. + +This time the travelling comrade did neither good nor ill to those of +the house, but in the morning he told the widow whither they were going, +and asked if she and her son knew the way to the garden where grew the +fruit of happiness. + +“Yes,” said she, “that we do, for the garden is not a day’s journey from +here, and my son himself shall go with you to show you the way.” + +“That is good,” said the servant’s comrade, “and if he will do so I will +pay him well for his trouble.” + +So the young man put on his hat, and took up his stick, and off went the +three, up hill and down dale, until by-and-by they came over the top of +the last hill, and there below them lay the garden. + +And what a sight it was, the leaves shining and glistening like so many +jewels in the sunlight! I only wish that I could tell you how beautiful +that garden was. And in the middle of it grew a golden tree, and on it +golden fruit. The servant, who had travelled so long and so far, could +see it plainly from where he stood, and he did not need to be told that +it was the fruit of happiness. But, after all, all he could do was to +stand and look, for in front of them was a great raging torrent, without +a bridge for a body to cross over. + +“Yonder is what you seek,” said the young man, pointing with his finger, +“and there you can see for yourself the fruit of happiness.” + +The travelling companion said never a word, good or bad, but, suddenly +catching the widow’s son by the collar, he lifted him and flung him into +the black, rushing water. Splash! went the young man, and then away he +went whirling over rocks and water-falls. “There!” cried the comrade, +“that is your reward for your service!” + +When the servant saw this cruel, wicked deed, he found his tongue at +last, and all that he had bottled up for the seven days came frothing +out of him like hot beer. Such abuse as he showered upon his travelling +companion no man ever listened to before. But to all the servant said +the other answered never a word until he had stopped for sheer want of +breath. Then-- + +“Poor fool,” said the travelling companion, “if you had only held your +tongue a minute longer, you, too, would have had the fruit of happiness +in your hand. Now it will be many a day before you have a sight of it +again.” + +Thereupon, as he ended speaking, he struck his staff upon the ground. +Instantly the earth trembled, and the sky darkened overhead until it +grew as black as night. Then came a great flash of fire from up in the +sky, which wrapped the travelling companion about until he was hidden +from sight. Then the flaming fire flew away to heaven again, carrying +him along with it. After that the sky cleared once more, and, lo and +behold! The garden and the torrent and all were gone, and nothing was +left but a naked plain covered over with the bones of those who had +come that way before, seeking the fruit which the travelling servant had +sought. + +It was a long time before the servant found his way back into the world +again, and the first house he came to, weak and hungry, was the widow’s. + +But what a change he beheld! It was a poor cottage no longer, but a +splendid palace, fit for a queen to dwell in. The widow herself met him +at the door, and she was dressed in clothes fit for a queen to wear, +shining with gold and silver and precious stones. + +The servant stood and stared like one bereft of wits. “How comes all +this change?” said he, “and how did you get all these grand things?” + +“My son,” said the widow woman, “has just been to the garden, and +has brought home from there the fruit of happiness. Many a day did we +search, but never could we find how to enter into the garden, until, the +other day, an angel came and showed the way to my son, and he was able +not only to gather of the fruit for himself, but to bring an apple for +me also.” + +Then the poor travelling servant began to thump his head. He saw well +enough through the millstone now, and that he, too, might have had one +of the fruit if he had but held his tongue a little longer. + +Yes, he saw what a fool he had made of himself, when he learned that it +was an angel with whom he had been travelling the five days gone. + +But, then, we are all of us like the servant for the matter of that; I, +too, have travelled with an angel many a day, I dare say, and never knew +it. + +That night the servant lodged with the widow and her son, and the next +day he started back home again upon the way he had travelled before. +By evening he had reached the place where the house of the poor couple +stood--the house that he had seen the angel set fire to. There he beheld +masons and carpenters hard at work hacking and hewing, and building a +fine new house. And there he saw the poor man himself standing by giving +them orders. “How is this,” said the travelling servant; “I thought that +your house was burned down?” + +“So it was, and that is how I came to be rich now,” said the one-time +poor man. “I and my wife had lived in our old house for many a long +day, and never knew that a great treasure of silver and gold was hidden +beneath it, until a few days ago there came an angel and burned it down +over our heads, and in the morning we found the treasure. So now we are +rich for as long as we may live.” + +The next morning the poor servant jogged along on his homeward way more +sad and downcast than ever, and by evening he had come to the robbers’ +den in the thick woods, and there the old woman came running to the door +to meet him. “Come in!” cried she; “come in and welcome! The robbers are +all dead and gone now, and I use the treasure that they left behind to +entertain poor travellers like yourself. The other day there came an +angel hither, and with him he brought the ring of discord that breeds +spite and rage and quarrelling. He gave it to the captain of the band, +and after he had gone the robbers fought for it with one another until +they were all killed. So now the world is rid of them, and travellers +can come and go as they please.” + +Back jogged the travelling servant, and the next day came to the town +and to the house of the sorrowful young man. There, lo and behold! +Instead of being dark and silent, as it was before, all was ablaze +with light and noisy with the sound of rejoicing and merriment. There +happened to be one of the household standing at the door, and he knew +the servant as the companion of that one who had stolen the ruby ring. +Up he came and laid hold of the servant by the collar, calling to his +companions that he had caught one of the thieves. Into the house they +hauled the poor servant, and into the same room where he had been +before, and there sat the young man at a grand feast, with his wife +and all his friends around him. But when the young man saw the poor +serving-man he came to him and took him by the hand, and set him beside +himself at the table. “Nobody except your comrade could be so welcome +as you,” said he, “and this is why. An enemy of mine one time gave me a +ruby ring, and though I knew nothing of it, it was the ring of discord +that bred strife wherever it came. So, as soon as it was brought +into the house, my wife and all my friends fell out with me, and we +quarrelled so that they all left me. But, though I knew it not at that +time, your comrade was an angel, and took the ring away with him, and +now I am as happy as I was sorrowful before.” + +By the next night the servant had come back to his home again. Rap! tap! +tap! He knocked at the door, and the wise man who had been his master +opened to him. “What do you want?” said he. + +“I want to take service with you again,” said the travelling servant. + +“Very well,” said the wise man; “come in and shut the door.” + +And for all I know the travelling servant is there to this day. For he +is not the only one in the world who has come in sight of the fruit of +happiness, and then jogged all the way back home again to cook cabbage +and onions and pot-herbs, and to make broth for wiser men than himself +to sup. + +That is the end of this story. + + +“I like your story, holy sir,” said the Blacksmith who made Death sit in +a pear-tree. “Ne’th’less, it hath indeed somewhat the smack of a sermon, +after all. Methinks I am like my friend yonder,” and he pointed with +his thumb towards Fortunatus; “I like to hear a story about treasures of +silver and gold, and about kings and princes--a story that turneth out +well in the end, with everybody happy, and the man himself married in +luck, rather than one that turneth out awry, even if it hath an angel in +it.” + +“Well, well,” said St. George, testily, “one cannot please everybody. +But as for being a sermon, why, certes, my story was not that--and even +if it were, it would not have hurt thee, sirrah.” + +“No offence,” said the Blacksmith; “I meant not to speak ill of your +story. Come, come, sir, will you not take a pot of ale with me?” + +“Why,” said St. George, somewhat mollified, “for the matter of that, I +would as lief as not.” + +“I liked the story well enough,” piped up the little Tailor who had +killed seven flies at a blow. “Twas a good enough story of its sort, but +why does nobody tell a tale of good big giants, and of wild boars, and +of unicorns, such as I killed in my adventures you wot of?” + +Old Ali Baba had been sitting with his hands folded and his eyes closed. +Now he opened them and looked at the Little Tailor. “I know a story,” + said he, “about a Genie who was as big as a giant, and six times as +powerful. And besides that,” he added, “the story is all about treasures +of gold, and palaces, and kings, and emperors, and what not, and about +a cave such as that in which I myself found the treasure of the forty +thieves.” + +The Blacksmith who made Death sit in the pear-tree clattered the bottom +of his canican against the table. “Aye, aye,” said he, “that is the sort +of story for me. Come, friend, let us have it.” + +“Stop a bit,” said Fortunatus; “what is this story mostly about?” + +“It is,” said Ali Baba, “about two men betwixt whom there was--” + + + + +Not a Pin to Choose. + +Once upon a time, in a country in the far East, a merchant was +travelling towards the city with three horses loaded with rich goods, +and a purse containing a hundred pieces of gold money. The day was very +hot, and the road dusty and dry, so that, by-and-by, when he reached a +spot where a cool, clear spring of water came bubbling out from under +a rock beneath the shade of a wide-spreading wayside tree, he was glad +enough to stop and refresh himself with a draught of the clear coolness +and rest awhile. But while he stooped to drink at the fountain the purse +of gold fell from his girdle into the tall grass, and he, not seeing it, +let it lie there, and went his way. + +Now it chanced that two fagot-makers--the elder by name Ali, the younger +Abdallah--who had been in the woods all day chopping fagots, came also +travelling the same way, and stopped at the same fountain to drink. +There the younger of the two spied the purse lying in the grass, and +picked it up. But when he opened it and found it full of gold money, he +was like one bereft of wits; he flung his arms, he danced, he shouted, +he laughed, he acted like a madman; for never had he seen so much wealth +in all of his life before--a hundred pieces of gold money! + +Now the older of the two was by nature a merry wag, and though he had +never had the chance to taste of pleasure, he thought that nothing in +the world could be better worth spending money for than wine and music +and dancing. So, when the evening had come, he proposed that they +two should go and squander it all at the Inn. But the younger +fellow--Abdallah--was by nature just as thrifty as the other was +spendthrift, and would not consent to waste what he had found. +Nevertheless, he was generous and open-hearted, and grudged his friend +nothing; so, though he did not care for a wild life himself, he gave Ali +a piece of gold to spend as he chose. + +By morning every copper of what had been given to the elder fagot-maker +was gone, and he had never had such a good time in his life before. All +that day and for a week the head of Ali was so full of the memory of the +merry night that he had enjoyed that he could think of nothing else. +At last, one evening, he asked Abdallah for another piece of gold, and +Abdallah gave it to him, and by the next morning it had vanished in the +same way that the other had flown. By-and-by Ali borrowed a third piece +of money, and then a fourth and then a fifth, so that by the time that +six months had passed and gone he had spent thirty of the hundred pieces +that had been found, and in all that time Abdallah had used not so much +as a pistareen. + +But when Ali came for the thirty-and-first loan, Abdallah refused to +let him have any more money. It was in vain that the elder begged and +implored--the younger abided by what he had said. + +Then Ali began to put on a threatening front. “You will not let me have +the money?” he said. + +“No, I will not.” + +“You will not?” + +“No!” + +“Then you shall!” cried Ali; and, so saying, caught the younger +fagot-maker by the throat, and began shaking him and shouting, “Help! +Help! I am robbed! I am robbed!” He made such an uproar that half a +hundred men, women, and children were gathered around them in less than +a minute. “Here is ingratitude for you!” cried Ali. “Here is wickedness +and thievery! Look at this wretch, all good men, and then turn away +your eyes! For twelve years have I lived with this young man as a father +might live with a son, and now how does he repay me? He has stolen all +that I have in the world--a purse of seventy sequins of gold.” + +All this while poor Abdallah had been so amazed that he could do nothing +but stand and stare like one stricken dumb; whereupon all the people, +thinking him guilty, dragged him off to the judge, reviling him and +heaping words of abuse upon him. + +Now the judge of that town was known far and near as the “Wise Judge”; +but never had he had such a knotty question as this brought up before +him, for by this time Abdallah had found his speech, and swore with a +great outcry that the money belonged to him. + +But at last a gleam of light came to the Wise Judge in his perplexity. +“Can any one tell me,” said he, “which of these fellows has had money of +late, and which has had none?” + +His question was one easily enough answered; a score of people were +there to testify that the elder of the two had been living well and +spending money freely for six months and more, and a score were also +there to swear that Abdallah had lived all the while in penury. “Then +that decides the matter,” said the Wise Judge. “The money belongs to the +elder fagot-maker.” + +“But listen, oh my lord judge!” cried Abdallah. “All that this man has +spent I have given to him--I, who found the money. Yes, my lord, I have +given it to him, and myself have spent not so much as single mite.” + +All who were present shouted with laughter at Abdallah’s speech, for +who would believe that any one would be so generous as to spend all upon +another and none upon himself? + +So poor Abdallah was beaten with rods until he confessed where he had +hidden his money; then the Wise Judge handed fifty sequins to Ali and +kept twenty himself for his decision, and all went their way praising +his justice and judgment. + +That is to say, all but poor Abdallah; he went to his home weeping and +wailing, and with every one pointing the finger of scorn at him. He was +just as poor as ever, and his back was sore with the beating that he +had suffered. All that night he continued to weep and wail, and when the +morning had come he was weeping and wailing still. + +Now it chanced that a wise man passed that way, and hearing his +lamentation, stopped to inquire the cause of his trouble. Abdallah told +the other of his sorrow, and the wise man listened, smiling, till he was +done, and then he laughed outright. “My son,” said he, “if every one in +your case should shed tears as abundantly as you have done, the world +would have been drowned in salt water by this time. As for your friend, +think not ill of him; no man loveth another who is always giving.” + +“Nay,” said the young fagot-maker, “I believe not a word of what +you say. Had I been in his place I would have been grateful for the +benefits, and not have hated the giver.” + +But the wise man only laughed louder than ever. “Maybe you will have the +chance to prove what you say some day,” said he, and went his way, still +shaking with his merriment. + +“All this,” said Ali Baba, “is only the beginning of my story; and now +if the damsel will fill up my pot of ale, I will begin in earnest and +tell about the cave of the Genie.” + +He watched Little Brown Betty until she had filled his mug, and the +froth ran over the top. Then he took a deep draught and began again. + +Though Abdallah had affirmed that he did not believe what the wise man +had said, nevertheless the words of the other were a comfort, for it +makes one feel easier in trouble to be told that others have been in a +like case with one’s self. + +So, by-and-by, Abdallah plucked up some spirit, and, saddling his +ass and shouldering his axe, started off to the woods for a bundle of +fagots. + +Misfortunes, they say, never come single, and so it seemed to be with +the fagot-maker that day; for that happened that had never happened to +him before--he lost his way in the woods. On he went, deeper and deeper +into the thickets, driving his ass before him, bewailing himself and +rapping his head with his knuckles. But all his sorrowing helped him +nothing, and by the time that night fell he found himself deep in the +midst of a great forest full of wild beasts, the very thought of which +curdled his blood. He had had nothing to eat all day long, and now +the only resting-place left him was the branches of some tree. So, +unsaddling his ass and leaving it to shift for itself, he climbed to and +roosted himself in the crotch of a great limb. + +In spite of his hunger he presently fell asleep, for trouble breeds +weariness as it breeds grief. + +About the dawning of the day he was awakened by the sound of voices and +the glaring of lights. He craned his neck and looked down, and there he +saw a sight that filled him with amazement: three old men riding each +upon a milk-white horse and each bearing a lighted torch in his hand, to +light the way through the dark forest. + +When they had come just below where Abdallah sat, they dismounted and +fastened their several horses to as many trees. Then he who rode first +of the three, and who wore a red cap and who seemed to be the chief of +them, walked solemnly up to a great rock that stood in the hillside, +and, breaking a switch from a shrub that grew in a cleft, struck the +face of the stone, crying in a loud voice, “I command thee to open, in +the name of the red Aldebaran!” + +Instantly, creaking and groaning, the face of the rock opened like +a door, gaping blackly. Then, one after another, the three old men +entered, and nothing was left but the dull light of their torches, +shining on the walls of the passage-way. + +What happened inside the cavern the fagot-maker could neither see nor +hear, but minute after minute passed while he sat as in a maze at all +that had happened. Then presently he heard a deep thundering voice and +a voice as of one of the old men in answer. Then there came a sound +swelling louder and louder, as though a great crowd of people were +gathering together, and with the voices came the noise of the neighing +of horses and the trampling of hoofs. Then at last there came pouring +from out the rock a great crowd of horses laden with bales and bundles +of rich stuffs and chests and caskets of gold and silver and jewels, +and each horse was led by a slave clad in a dress of cloth-of-gold, +sparkling and glistening with precious gems. When all these had come +out from the cavern, other horses followed, upon each of which sat +a beautiful damsel, more lovely than the fancy of man could picture. +Beside the damsels marched a guard, each man clad in silver armor, and +each bearing a drawn sword that flashed in the brightening day more +keenly than the lightning. So they all came pouring forth from the +cavern until it seemed as though the whole woods below were filled with +the wealth and the beauty of King Solomon’s day--and then, last of all, +came the three old men. + +“In the name of the red Aldebaran,” said he who had bidden the rock to +open, “I command thee to become closed.” Again, creaking and groaning, +the rock shut as it had opened--like a door--and the three old men, +mounting their horses, led the way from the woods, the others following. +The noise and confusion of the many voices shouting and calling, the +trample and stamp of horses, grew fainter and fainter, until at last +all was once more hushed and still, and only the fagot-maker was left +behind, still staring like one dumb and bereft of wits. + +But so soon as he was quite sure that all were really gone, he clambered +down as quickly as might be. He waited for a while to make doubly sure +that no one was left behind, and then he walked straight up to the rock, +just as he had seen the old man do. He plucked a switch from the bush, +just as he had seen the old man pluck one, and struck the stone, just +as the old man had struck it. “I command thee to open,” said he, “in the +name of the red Aldebaran!” + +Instantly, as it had done in answer to the old man’s command, there came +a creaking and a groaning, and the rock slowly opened like a door, and +there was the passageway yawning before him. For a moment or two the +fagot-maker hesitated to enter; but all was as still as death, and +finally he plucked up courage and went within. + +By this time the day was brightening and the sun rising, and by the gray +light the fagot-maker could see about him pretty clearly. Not a sign was +to be seen of horses or of treasure or of people--nothing but a square +block of marble, and upon it a black casket, and upon that again a gold +ring, in which was set a blood-red stone. Beyond these things there was +nothing; the walls were bare, the roof was bare, the floor was bare--all +was bare and naked stone. + +“Well,” said the wood-chopper, “as the old men have taken everything +else, I might as well take these things. The ring is certainly worth +something, and maybe I shall be able to sell the casket for a trifle +into the bargain.” So he slipped the ring upon his finger, and, taking +up the casket, left the place. “I command thee to be closed,” said +he, “in the name of the red Aldebaran!” And thereupon the door closed, +creaking and groaning. + +After a little while he found his ass, saddled it and bridled it, and +loaded it with the bundle of fagots that he had chopped the day before, +and then set off again to try to find his way out of the thick woods. +But still his luck was against him, and the farther he wandered the +deeper he found himself in the thickets. In the meantime he was like to +die of hunger, for he had not a bite to eat for more than a whole day. + +“Perhaps,” said he to himself, “there may be something in the casket to +stay my stomach;” and, so saying, he sat him down, unlocked the casket, +and raised the lid. + +Such a yell as the poor wretch uttered ears never heard before. Over +he rolled upon his back and there lay staring with wide eyes, and away +scampered the jackass, kicking up his heels and braying so that the +leaves of the trees trembled and shook. For no sooner had he lifted the +lid than out leaped a great hideous Genie, as black as a coal, with one +fiery-red eye in the middle of his forehead that glared and rolled most +horribly, and with his hands and feet set with claws, sharp and hooked +like the talons of a hawk. Poor Abdallah the fagot-maker lay upon his +back staring at the monster with a face as white as wax. + +“What are thy commands?” said the Genie in a terrible voice, that +rumbled like the sound of thunder. + +“I--I do not know,” said Abdallah, trembling and shaking as with an +ague. “I--I have forgotten.” + +“Ask what thou wilt,” said the Genie, “for I must ever obey whomsoever +hast the ring that thou wearest upon thy finger. Hath my lord nothing to +command wherein I may serve him?” + +Abdallah shook his head. “No,” said he, “there is +nothing--unless--unless you will bring me something to eat.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie. “What will my lord be pleased to +have?” + +“Just a little bread and cheese,” said Abdallah. + +The Genie waved his hand, and in an instant a fine damask napkin lay +spread upon the ground, and upon it a loaf of bread as white as snow and +a piece of cheese such as the king would have been glad to taste. But +Abdallah could do nothing but sit staring at the Genie, for the sight of +the monster quite took away his appetite. + +“What more can I do to serve thee?” asked the Genie. + +“I think,” said Abdallah, “that I could eat more comfortably if you were +away.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie. “Whither shall I go? Shall I enter +the casket again?” + +“I do not know,” said the fagot-maker; “how did you come to be there?” + +“I am a great Genie,” answered the monster, “and was conjured thither +by the great King Solomon, whose seal it is that thou wearest upon thy +finger. For a certain fault that I committed I was confined in the box +and hidden in the cavern where thou didst find me to-day. There I lay +for thousands of years until one day three old magicians discovered +the secret of where I lay hidden. It was they who only this morning +compelled me to give them that vast treasure which thou sawest them take +away from the cavern not long since.” + +“But why did they not take you and the box and the ring away also?” + asked Abdallah. + +“Because,” answered the Genie, “they are three brothers, and neither two +care to trust the other one with such power as the ring has to give, so +they made a solemn compact among themselves that I should remain in the +cavern, and that no one of the three should visit it without the other +two in his company. Now, my lord, if it is thy will that I shall enter +the casket again I must even obey thy command in that as in all things; +but, if it please thee, I would fain rejoin my own kind again--they from +whom I have been parted for so long. Shouldst thou permit me to do so +I will still be thy slave, for thou hast only to press the red stone in +the ring and repeat these words: By the red Aldebaran, I command thee +to come,’ and I will be with thee instantly. But if I have my freedom +I shall serve thee from gratitude and love, and not from compulsion and +with fear.” + +“So be it!” said Abdallah. “I have no choice in the matter, and thou +mayest go whither it pleases thee.” + +No sooner had the words left his lips than the Genie gave a great cry +of rejoicing, so piercing that it made Abdallah’s flesh creep, and then, +fetching the black casket a kick that sent it flying over the tree tops, +vanished instantly. + +“Well,” quote Abdallah, when he had caught his breath from his +amazement, “these are the most wonderful things that have happened to +me in all of my life.” And thereupon he fell to at the bread and cheese, +and ate as only a hungry man can eat. When he had finished the last +crumb he wiped his mouth with the napkin, and, stretching his arms, felt +within him that he was like a new man. + +Nevertheless, he was still lost in the woods, and now not even with his +ass for comradeship. + +He had wandered for quite a little while before he bethought himself of +the Genie. “What a fool am I,” said he, “not to have asked him to help +me while he was here.” He pressed his finger upon the ring, and cried in +a loud voice, “By the red Aldebaran, I command thee to come!” + +Instantly the Genie stood before him--big, black, ugly, and grim. “What +are my lord’s commands?” said he. + +“I command thee,” said Abdallah the fagot-maker, who was not half +so frightened at the sight of the monster this time as he had been +before--“I command thee to help me out of this woods.” + +Hardly were the words out of his mouth when the Genie snatched Abdallah +up, and, flying swifter than the lightning, set him down in the middle +of the highway on the outskirts of the forest before he had fairly +caught his breath. + +When he did gather his wits and looked about him, he knew very well +where he was, and that he was upon the road that led to the city. At the +sight his heart grew light within him, and off he stepped briskly for +home again. + +But the sun shone hot and the way was warm and dusty, and before +Abdallah had gone very far the sweat was running down his face in +streams. After a while he met a rich husband-man riding easily along on +an ambling nag, and when Abdallah saw him he rapped his head with his +knuckles. “Why did I not think to ask the Genie for a horse?” said he. +“I might just as well have ridden as to have walked, and that upon +a horse a hundred times more beautiful than the one that that fellow +rides.” + +He stepped into the thicket beside the way, where he might be out of +sight, and there pressed the stone in his ring, and at his bidding the +Genie stood before him. + +“What are my lord’s commands?” said he. + +“I would like to have a noble horse to ride upon,” said Abdallah--“a +horse such as a king might use.” + +“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie; and, stretching out his hand, +there stood before Abdallah a magnificent Arab horse, with a saddle and +bridle studded with precious stones, and with housings of gold. “Can I +do aught to serve my lord further?” said the Genie. + +“Not just now,” said Abdallah; “if I have further use for you I will +call you.” + +The Genie bowed his head and was gone like a flash, and Abdallah mounted +his horse and rode off upon his way. But he had not gone far before +he drew rein suddenly. “How foolish must I look,” said he, “to be thus +riding along the high-road upon this noble steed, and I myself clad in +fagot-maker’s rags.” Thereupon he turned his horse into the thicket, and +again summoned the Genie. “I should like,” said he, “to have a suit of +clothes fit for a king to wear.” + +“My lord shall have that which he desires,” said the Genie. He stretched +out his hand, and in an instant there lay across his arm raiment such +as the eyes of man never saw before--stiff with pearls, and blazing with +diamonds and rubies and emeralds and sapphires. The Genie himself aided +Abdallah to dress, and when he looked down he felt, for the time, quite +satisfied. + +He rode a little farther. Then suddenly he bethought himself, “What a +silly spectacle shall I cut in the town with no money in my purse and +with such fine clothes upon my back.” Once more the Genie was summoned. +“I should like,” said the fagot-maker, “to have a box full of money.” + +The Genie stretched out his hand, and in it was a casket of +mother-of-pearl inlaid with gold and full of money. “Has my lord any +further commands for his servant?” asked he. + +“No,” answered Abdallah. “Stop--I have, too,” he added. “Yes; I would +like to have a young man to carry my money for me.” + +“He is here,” said the Genie. And there stood a beautiful youth clad in +clothes of silver tissue, and holding a milk-white horse by the bridle. + +“Stay, Genie,” said Abdallah. “Whilst thou art here thou mayest as +well give me enough at once to last me a long time to come. Let me have +eleven more caskets of money like this one, and eleven more slaves to +carry the same.” + +“They are here,” said the Genie; and as he spoke there stood eleven more +youths before Abdallah, as like the first as so many pictures of the +same person, and each youth bore in his hands a box like the one that +the monster had given Abdallah. “Will my lord have anything further?” + asked the Genie. + +“Let me think,” said Abdallah. “Yes; I know the town well, and that +should one so rich as I ride into it without guards he would be certain +to be robbed before he had travelled a hundred paces. Let me have an +escort of a hundred armed men.” + +“It shall be done,” said the Genie, and, waving his hand, the road where +they stood was instantly filled with armed men, with swords and helmets +gleaming and flashing in the sun, and all seated upon magnificently +caparisoned horses. “Can I serve my lord further?” asked the Genie. + +“No,” said Abdallah the fagot-maker, in admiration, “I have nothing more +to wish for in this world. Thou mayest go, Genie, and it will be long +ere I will have to call thee again,” and thereupon the Genie was gone +like a flash. + +The captain of Abdallah’s troop--a bearded warrior clad in a superb suit +of armor--rode up to the fagot-maker, and, leaping from his horse and +bowing before him so that his forehead touched the dust, said, “Whither +shall we ride, my lord?” + +Abdallah smote his forehead with vexation. “If I live a thousand years,” + said he, “I will never learn wisdom.” Thereupon, dismounting again, he +pressed the ring and summoned the Genie. “I was mistaken,” said he, “as +to not wanting thee so soon. I would have thee build me in the city a +magnificent palace, such as man never looked upon before, and let it be +full from top to bottom with rich stuffs and treasures of all sorts. And +let it have gardens and fountains and terraces fitting for such a place, +and let it be meetly served with slaves, both men and women, the most +beautiful that are to be found in all the world.” + +“Is there aught else that thou wouldst have?” asked the Genie. + +The fagot-maker meditated a long time. “I can bethink myself of nothing +more just now,” said he. + +The Genie turned to the captain of the troop and said some words to him +in a strange tongue, and then in a moment was gone. The captain gave the +order to march, and away they all rode with Abdallah in the midst. “Who +would have thought,” said he, looking around him, with the heart within +him swelling with pride as though it would burst--“who would have +thought that only this morning I was a poor fagot-maker, lost in the +woods and half starved to death? Surely there is nothing left for me to +wish for in this world!” + +Abdallah was talking of something he knew nothing of. + +Never before was such a sight seen in that country, as Abdallah and +his troop rode through the gates and into the streets of the city. +But dazzling and beautiful as were those who rode attendant upon him, +Abdallah the fagot-maker surpassed them all as the moon dims the lustre +of the stars. The people crowded around shouting with wonder, and +Abdallah, in the fulness of his delight, gave orders to the slaves who +bore the caskets of money to open them and to throw the gold to the +people. So, with those in the streets scrambling and fighting for the +money and shouting and cheering, and others gazing down at the spectacle +from the windows and house-tops, the fagot-maker and his troop rode +slowly along through the town. + +Now it chanced that their way led along past the royal palace, and the +princess, hearing all the shouting and the hubbub, looked over the edge +of the balcony and down into the street. At the same moment Abdallah +chanced to look up, and their eyes met. Thereupon the fagot-maker’s +heart crumbled away within him, for she was the most beautiful princess +in all the world. Her eyes were as black as night, her hair like threads +of fine silk, her neck like alabaster, and her lips and her cheeks as +soft and as red as rose-leaves. When she saw that Abdallah was looking +at her she dropped the curtain of the balcony and was gone, and the +fagot-maker rode away, sighing like a furnace. + +So, by-and-by, he came to his palace, which was built all of marble +as white as snow, and which was surrounded with gardens, shaded by +flowering trees, and cooled by the plashing of fountains. From the +gateway to the door of the palace a carpet of cloth-of-gold had been +spread for him to walk upon, and crowds of slaves stood waiting to +receive him. But for all these glories Abdallah cared nothing; he hardly +looked about him, but, going straight to his room, pressed his ring and +summoned the Genie. + +“What is it that my lord would have?” asked the monster. + +“Oh, Genie!” said poor Abdallah, “I would have the princess for my wife, +for without her I am like to die.” + +“My lord’s commands,” said the Genie, “shall be executed if I have to +tear down the city to do so. But perhaps this behest is not so hard to +fulfil. First of all, my lord will have to have an ambassador to send to +the king.” + +“Very well,” said Abdallah with a sigh; “let me have an ambassador or +whatever may be necessary. Only make haste, Genie, in thy doings.” + +“I shall lose no time,” said the Genie; and in a moment was gone. + +The king was sitting in council with all of the greatest lords of the +land gathered about him, for the Emperor of India had declared war +against him, and he and they were in debate, discussing how the country +was to be saved. Just then Abdallah’s ambassador arrived, and when he +and his train entered the council-chamber all stood up to receive him, +for the least of those attendant upon him was more magnificently attired +than the king himself, and was bedecked with such jewels as the royal +treasury could not match. + +Kneeling before the king, the ambassador touched the ground with his +forehead. Then, still kneeling, he unrolled a scroll, written in letters +of gold, and from it read the message asking for the princess to wife +for the Lord Abdallah. + +When he had ended, the king sat for a while stroking his beard and +meditating. But before he spoke the oldest lord of the council arose and +said: “O sire! If this Lord Abdallah who asks for the princess for his +wife can send such a magnificent company in the train of his ambassador, +may it not be that he may be able also to help you in your war against +the Emperor of India?” + +“True!” said the king. Then turning to the ambassador: “Tell your +master,” said he, “that if he will furnish me with an army of one +hundred thousand men, to aid me in the war against the Emperor of India, +he shall have my daughter for his wife.” + +“Sire,” said the ambassador, “I will answer now for my master, and the +answer shall be this: That he will help you with an army, not of one +hundred thousand, but of two hundred thousand men. And if to-morrow you +will be pleased to ride forth to the plain that lieth to the south of +the city, my Lord Abdallah will meet you there with his army.” Then, +once more bowing, he withdrew from the council-chamber, leaving all them +that were there amazed at what had happened. + +So the next day the king and all his court rode out to the place +appointed. As they drew near they saw that the whole face of the plain +was covered with a mighty host, drawn up in troops and squadrons. As the +king rode towards this vast army, Abdallah met him, surrounded by his +generals. He dismounted and would have kneeled, but the king would not +permit him, but, raising him, kissed him upon the cheek, calling him +son. Then the king and Abdallah rode down before the ranks and the whole +army waved their swords, and the flashing of the sunlight on the blades +was like lightning, and they shouted, and the noise was like the pealing +of thunder. + +Before Abdallah marched off to the wars he and the princess were +married, and for a whole fortnight nothing was heard but the sound of +rejoicing. The city was illuminated from end to end, and all of the +fountains ran with wine instead of water. And of all those who rejoiced, +none was so happy as the princess, for never had she seen one whom +she thought so grand and noble and handsome as her husband. After the +fortnight had passed and gone, the army marched away to the wars with +Abdallah at its head. + +Victory after victory followed, for in every engagement the Emperor of +India’s troops were driven from the field. In two months’ time the war +was over and Abdallah marched back again--the greatest general in the +world. But it was no longer as Abdallah that he was known, but as the +Emperor of India, for the former emperor had been killed in the war, and +Abdallah had set the crown upon his own head. + +The little taste that he had had of conquest had given him an appetite +for more, so that with the armies the Genie provided him he conquered +all the neighboring countries and brought them under his rule. So he +became the greatest emperor in all the world; kings and princes kneeled +before him, and he, Abdallah, the fagot-maker, looking about him, could +say: “No one in all the world is so great as I!” + +Could he desire anything more? + +Yes; he did! He desired to be rid of the Genie! + +When he thought of how all that he was in power and might--he, the +Emperor of the World--how all his riches and all his glory had come +as gifts from a hideous black monster with only one eye, his heart was +filled with bitterness. “I cannot forget,” said he to himself, “that +as he has given me all these things, he may take them all away again. +Suppose that I should lose my ring and that some one else should find +it; who knows but that they might become as great as I, and strip me +of everything, as I have stripped others. Yes; I wish he was out of the +way!” + +Once, when such thoughts as these were passing through his mind, he was +paying a visit to his father-in-law, the king. He was walking up and +down the terrace of the garden meditating on these matters, when, +leaning over a wall and looking down into the street, he saw a +fagot-maker--just such a fagot-maker as he himself had one time +been--driving an ass--just such an ass as he had one time driven. The +fagot-maker carried something under his arm, and what should it be but +the very casket in which the Genie had once been imprisoned, and +which he--the one-time fagot-maker--had seen the Genie kick over the +tree-tops. + +The sight of the casket put a sudden thought into his mind. He shouted +to his attendants, and bade them haste and bring the fagot-maker to +him. Off they ran, and in a little while came dragging the poor wretch, +trembling and as white as death; for he thought nothing less than that +his end had certainly come. As soon as those who had seized him had +loosened their hold, he flung himself prostrate at the feet of the +Emperor Abdallah, and there lay like one dead. + +“Where didst thou get yonder casket?” asked the emperor. + +“Oh, my lord!” croaked the poor fagot-maker, “I found it out yonder in +the woods.” + +“Give it to me,” said the emperor, “and my treasurer shall count thee +out a thousand pieces of gold in exchange.” + +So soon as he had the casket safe in his hands he hurried away to his +privy chamber, and there pressed the red stone in his ring. “In the +name of the red Aldebaran, I command thee to appear!” said he, and in a +moment the Genie stood before him. + +“What are my lord’s commands?” said he. + +“I would have thee enter this casket again,” said the Emperor Abdallah. + +“Enter the casket!” cried the Genie, aghast. + +“Enter the casket.” + +“In what have I done anything to offend my lord?” said the Genie. + +“In nothing,” said the emperor; “only I would have thee enter the casket +again as thou wert when I first found thee.” + +It was in vain that the Genie begged and implored for mercy, it was in +vain that he reminded Abdallah of all that he had done to benefit him; +the great emperor stood as hard as a rock--into the casket the Genie +must and should go. So at last into the casket the monster went, +bellowing most lamentably. + +The Emperor Abdallah shut the lid of the casket, and locked it and +sealed it with his seal. Then, hiding it under his cloak, he bore it out +into the garden and to a deep well, and, first making sure that nobody +was by to see, dropped casket and Genie and all into the water. + +Now had that wise man been by--the wise man who had laughed so when +the poor young fagot-maker wept and wailed at the ingratitude of +his friend--the wise man who had laughed still louder when the young +fagot-maker vowed that in another case he would not have been so +ungrateful to one who had benefited him--how that wise man would have +roared when he heard the casket plump into the waters of the well! For, +upon my word of honor, betwixt Ali the fagot-maker and Abdallah the +Emperor of the World there was not a pin to choose, except in degree. + + +Old Ali Baba’s pipe had nearly gone out, and he fell a puffing at it +until the spark grew to life again, and until great clouds of smoke +rolled out around his head and up through the rafters above. + +“I liked thy story, friend,” said old Bidpai--“I liked it mightily much. +I liked more especially the way in which thy emperor got rid of his +demon, or Genie.” + +Fortunatus took a long pull at his mug of ale. “I know not,” said he, +“about the demon, but there was one part that I liked much, and that +was about the treasures of silver and gold and the palace that the Genie +built and all the fine things that the poor fagot-maker enjoyed.” Then +he who had once carried the magic purse in his pocket fell a clattering +with the bottom of his quart cup upon the table. “Hey! My pretty lass,” + cried he, “come hither and fetch me another stoup of ale.” + +Little Brown Betty came at his call, stumbling and tumbling into the +room, just as she had stumbled and tumbled in the Mother Goose book, +only this time she did not crack her crown, but gathered herself up +laughing. + +“You may fill my canican while you are about it,” said St. George, “for, +by my faith, tis dry work telling a story.” + +“And mine, too,” piped the little Tailor who killed seven flies at a +blow. + +“And whose turn is it now to tell a story?” said Doctor Faustus. + +“Tis his,” said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew, and he pointed to Hans +who traded and traded until he had traded his lump of gold for an empty +churn. + +Hans grinned sheepishly. “Well,” said he, “I never did have luck at +anything, and why, then, d’ye think I should have luck at telling a +story?” + +“Nay, never mind that,” said Aladdin, “tell thy story, friend, as best +thou mayst.” + +“Very well,” said Hans, “if ye will have it, I will tell it to you; but, +after all, it is not better than my own story, and the poor man in the +end gets no more than I did in my bargains.” + +“And what is your story about, my friend?” said Cinderella. + +“Tis,” said Hans, “about how--” + + + + +Much shall have more and little shall have less. + +Once upon a time there was a king who did the best he could to rule +wisely and well, and to deal justly by those under him whom he had to +take care of; and as he could not trust hearsay, he used every now and +then to slip away out of his palace and go among his people to hear what +they had to say for themselves about him and the way he ruled the land. + +Well, one such day as this, when he was taking a walk, he strolled out +past the walls of the town and into the green fields until he came at +last to a fine big house that stood by the banks of a river, wherein +lived a man and his wife who were very well to do in the world. There +the king stopped for a bite of bread and a drink of fresh milk. + +“I would like to ask you a question,” said the king to the rich man; +“and the question is this: Why are some folk rich and some folk poor?” + +“That I cannot tell you,” said the good man; “only I remember my father +used to say that much shall have more and little shall have less.” + +“Very well,” said the king; “the saying has a good sound, but let us +find whether or not it is really true. See; here is a purse with three +hundred pieces of golden money in it. Take it and give it to the poorest +man you know; in a week’s time I will come again, and then you shall +tell me whether it has made you or him the richer.” + +Now in the town there lived two beggars who were as poor as poverty +itself, and the poorer of the twain was one who used to sit in rags and +tatters on the church step to beg charity of the good folk who came and +went. To him went the rich man, and, without so much as a good-morning, +quoth he: “Here is something for you,” and so saying dropped the purse +of gold into the beggar’s hat. Then away he went without waiting for a +word of thanks. + +As for the beggar, he just sat there for a while goggling and staring +like one moon-struck. But at last his wits came back to him, and then +away he scampered home as fast as his legs could carry him. Then he +spread his money out on the table and counted it--three hundred pieces +of gold money! He had never seen such great riches in his life before. +There he sat feasting his eyes upon the treasure as though they would +never get their fill. And now what was he to do with all of it? Should +he share his fortune with his brother? Not a bit of it. To be sure, +until now they had always shared and shared alike, but here was the +first great lump of good-luck that had ever fallen in his way, and he +was not for spoiling it by cutting it in two to give half to a poor +beggar-man such as his brother. Not he; he would hide it and keep it all +for his very own. + +Now, not far from where he lived, and beside the river, stood a +willow-tree, and thither the lucky beggar took his purse of money and +stuffed it into a knot-hole of a withered branch, then went his +way, certain that nobody would think of looking for money in such a +hiding-place. Then all the rest of the day he sat thinking and thinking +of the ways he would spend what had been given him, and what he would do +to get the most good out of it. At last came evening, and his brother, +who had been begging in another part of the town, came home again. + +“I nearly lost my hat to-day,” said the second beggar so soon as he had +come into the house. + +“Did you?” said the first beggar. “How was that?” + +“Oh! The wind blew it off into the water, but I got it again.” + +“How did you get it?” said the first beggar. + +“I just broke a dead branch off of the willow-tree and drew my hat +ashore,” said the second beggar. + +“A dead branch!!” + +“A dead branch.” + +“Off of the willow tree!!” + +“Off of the willow tree.” + +The first beggar could hardly breathe. + +“And what did you do with the dead branch after that?” + +“I threw it away into the water, and it floated down the river.” + +The beggar to whom the money had been given ran out of the house +howling, and down to the river-side, thumping his head with his knuckles +like one possessed. For he knew that the branch his brother had broken +off of the tree and had thrown into the water, was the very one in which +he had hidden the bag of money. + +Yes; and so it was. + +The next morning, as the rich man took a walk down by the river, he saw +a dead branch that had been washed up by the tide. “Halloo!” says he, +“this will do to kindle the fire with.” + +So he brought it to the house, and, taking down his axe, began to split +it up for kindling. The very first blow he gave, out tumbled the bag of +money. + +But the beggar--well, by-and-by his grieving got better of its first +smart, and then he started off down the river to see if he could not +find his money again. He hunted up and he hunted down, but never a whit +of it did he see, and at last he stopped at the rich man’s house and +begged for a bite to eat and lodgings for the night. There he told all +his story--how he had hidden the money that had been given him from his +brother, how his brother had broken off the branch and had thrown it +away, and how he had spent the whole live-long day searching for it. And +to all the rich man listened and said never a word. But though he said +nothing, he thought to himself, “Maybe, after all, it is not the will of +Heaven that this man shall have the money. Nevertheless, I will give him +another trial.” + +So he told the poor beggar to come in and stay for the night; and, +whilst the beggar was snoring away in his bed in the garret, the rich +man had his wife make two great pies, each with a fine brown crust. In +the first pie he put the little bag of money; the second he filled full +of rusty nails and scraps of iron. + +The next morning he called the beggar to him. “My friend,” said he, “I +grieve sadly for the story you told me last night. But maybe, after all, +your luck is not all gone. And now, if you will choose as you should +choose, you shall not go away from here comfortless. In the pantry +yonder are two great pies--one is for you and one for me. Go in and take +whichever one you please.” + +“A pie!” thought the beggar to himself; “does the man think that a big +pie will comfort me for the loss of three hundred pieces of money?” + Nevertheless, as it was the best thing to be had, into the pantry the +beggar went and there began to feel and weigh the pies, and the one +filled with the rusty nails and scraps of iron was ever so much the +fatter and the heavier. + +“This is the one that I shall take,” said he to the rich man, “and you +may have the other.” And, tucking it under his arm, off he tramped. + +Well, before he got back to the town he grew hungry, and sat down by the +roadside to eat his pie; and if there was ever an angry man in the world +before, he was one that day--for there was his pie full of nothing but +rusty nails and bits of iron. “This is the way the rich always treat the +poor,” said he. + +So back he went in a fume. “What did you give me a pie full of old nails +for?” said he. + +“You took the pie of your own choice,” said the rich man; “nevertheless, +I meant you no harm. Lodge with me here one night, and in the morning I +will give you something better worth while, maybe.” + +So that night the rich man had his wife bake two loaves of bread, in one +of which she hid the bag with the three hundred pieces of gold money. + +“Go to the pantry,” said the rich man to the beggar in the morning, “and +there you will find two loaves of bread--one is for you and one for me; +take whichever one you choose.” + +So in went the beggar, and the first loaf of bread he laid his hand upon +was the one in which the money was hidden, and off he marched with it +under his arm, without so much as saying thank you. + +“I wonder,” said he to himself, after he had jogged along awhile--“I +wonder whether the rich man is up to another trick such as he played +upon me yesterday?” He put the loaf of bread to his ear and shook it and +shook it, and what should he hear but the chink of the money within. “Ah +ha!” said he, “he has filled it with rusty nails and bits of iron again, +but I will get the better of him this time.” + +By-and-by he met a poor woman coming home from market. “Would you like +to buy a fine fresh loaf of bread?” said the beggar. + +“Yes, I would,” said the woman. + +“Well, here is one you may have for two pennies,” said the beggar. + +That was cheap enough, so the woman paid him his price and off she went +with the loaf of bread under her arm, and never stopped until she had +come to her home. + +Now it happened that the day before this very woman had borrowed just +such a loaf of bread from the rich man’s wife; and so, as there was +plenty in the house without it, she wrapped this loaf up in a napkin, +and sent her husband back with it to where it had started from first of +all. + +“Well,” said the rich man to his wife, “the way of Heaven is not to be +changed.” And so he laid the money on the shelf until he who had given +it to him should come again, and thought no more of giving it to the +beggar. + +At the end of seven days the king called upon the rich man again, and +this time he came in his own guise as a real king. “Well,” said he, “is +the poor man the richer for his money?” + +“No,” said the rich man, “he is not;” and then he told the whole story +from beginning to end just as I have told it. + +“Your father was right,” said the king; “and what he said was very +true--Much shall have more and little shall have less.’ Keep the bag of +money for yourself, for there Heaven means it to stay.” + +And maybe there is as much truth as poetry in this story. + + +And now it was the turn of the Blacksmith who had made Death sit in his +pear-tree until the cold wind whistled through the ribs of man’s enemy. +He was a big, burly man, with a bullet head, and a great thick neck, and +a voice like a bull’s. + +“Do you mind,” said he, “about how I clapped a man in the fire and +cooked him to a crisp that day that St. Peter came travelling my way?” + +There was a little space of silence, and then the Soldier who had +cheated the Devil spoke up. “Why yes, friend,” said he, “I know your +story very well.” + +“I am not so fortunate,” said old Bidpai. “I do not know your story. +Tell me, friend, did you really bake a man to a crisp? And how was it +then?” + +“Why,” said the Blacksmith, “I was trying to do what a better man than +I did, and where he hit the mark I missed it by an ell. Twas a pretty +scrape I was in that day.” + +“But how did it happen?” said Bidpai. + +“It happened,” said the Blacksmith, “just as it is going to happen in +the story I am about to tell.” + +“And what is your story about?” said Fortunatus. + +“It is,” said the Blacksmith, “about--” + + + + +Wisdom’s Wages and Folly’s Pay + +Once upon a time there was a wise man of wise men, and a great magician +to boot, and his name was Doctor Simon Agricola. + +Once upon a time there was a simpleton of simpletons, and a great booby +to boot, and his name was Babo. + +Simon Agricola had read all the books written by man, and could do more +magic than any conjurer that ever lived. But, nevertheless, he was +none too well off in the world; his clothes were patched, and his shoes +gaped, and that is the way with many another wise man of whom I have +heard tell. + +Babo gathered rushes for a chair-maker, and he also had too few of the +good things to make life easy. But it is nothing out of the way for a +simpleton to be in that case. + +The two of them lived neighbor to neighbor, the one in the next house +to the other, and so far as the world could see there was not a pin to +choose between them--only that one was called a wise man and the other a +simpleton. + +One day the weather was cold, and when Babo came home from gathering +rushes he found no fire in the house. So off he went to his neighbor the +wise man. “Will you give me a live coal to start my fire?” said he. + +“Yes, I will do that,” said Simon Agricola; “But how will you carry the +coal home?” + +“Oh!” said Babo, “I will just take it in my hand.” + +“In your hand?” + +“In my hand.” + +“Can you carry a live coal in your hand?” + +“Oh yes!” said Babo; “I can do that easily enough.” + +“Well, I should like to see you do it,” said Simon Agricola. + +“Then I will show you,” said Babo. He spread a bed of cold, dead ashes +upon his palm. “Now,” said he, “I will take the ember upon that.” + +Agricola rolled up his eyes like a duck in a thunder-storm. “Well,” said +he, “I have lived more than seventy years, and have read all the books +in the world; I have practised magic and necromancy, and know all about +algebra and geometry, and yet, wise as I am, I never thought of this +little thing.” + +That is the way with your wise man. + +“Pooh!” said Babo; “that is nothing. I know how to do many more tricks +than that.” + +“Do you?” said Simon Agricola; “then listen: to-morrow I am going out +into the world to make my fortune, for little or nothing is to be had in +this town. If you will go along with me I will make your fortune also.” + +“Very well,” said Babo, and the bargain was struck. So the next morning +bright and early off they started upon their journey, cheek by jowl, the +wise man and the simpleton, to make their fortunes in the wide world, +and the two of them made a pair. On they jogged and on they jogged, +and the way was none too smooth. By-and-by they came to a great field +covered all over with round stones. + +“Let us each take one of these,” said Simon Agricola; “they will be of +use by-and-by;” and, as he spoke, he picked up a great stone as big as +his two fists, and dropped it into the pouch that dangled at his side. + +“Not I,” said Babo; “I will carry no stone with me. It is as much as my +two legs can do to carry my body, let along lugging a great stone into +the bargain.” + +“Very well,” said Agricola; “born a fool, live a fool, die a fool.’” And +on he tramped, with Babo at his heels. + +At last they came to a great wide plain, where, far or near, nothing was +to be seen but bare sand, without so much as a pebble or a single blade +of grass, and there night caught up with them. + +“Dear, dear, but I am hungry!” said Babo. + +“So am I,” said Simon Agricola. “Let’s sit down here and eat.” + +So down they sat, and Simon Agricola opened his pouch and drew forth the +stone. + +The stone? It was a stone no longer, but a fine loaf of white bread as +big as your two fists. You should have seen Babo goggle and stare! “Give +me a piece of your bread, master,” said he. + +“Not I,” said Agricola. “You might have had a dozen of the same kind, +had you chosen to do as I bade you and to fetch them along with you. +Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,’” said he; and that was all that +Babo got for his supper. As for the wise man, he finished his loaf of +bread to the last crumb, and then went to sleep with a full stomach and +a contented mind. + +The next morning off they started again bright and early, and before +long they came to just such another field of stones as they left behind +them the day before. + +“Come, master,” said Babo, “let us each take a stone with us. We may +need something more to eat before the day is over.” + +“No,” said Simon Agricola; “we will need no stones to-day.” + +But Babo had no notion to go hungry the second time, so he hunted around +till he found a stone as big as his head. All day he carried it, first +under one arm, and then under the other. The wise man stepped along +briskly enough, but the sweat ran down Babo’s face like drops on the +window in an April shower. At last they came to a great wide plain, +where neither stock nor stone was to be seen, but only a gallows-tree, +upon which one poor wight hung dancing upon nothing at all, and there +night caught them again. + +“Aha!” said Babo to himself. “This time I shall have bread and my master +none.” + +But listen to what happened. Up stepped the wise man to the gallows, and +gave it a sharp rap with his staff. Then, lo and behold! The gallows was +gone, and in its place stood a fine inn, with lights in the windows, and +a landlord bowing and smiling in the doorway, and a fire roaring in +the kitchen, and the smell of good things cooking filling the air all +around, so that only to sniff did one’s heart good. + +Poor Babo let fall the stone he had carried all day. A stone it was, and +a stone he let fall. + +“Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,’” said Agricola. “But come in, +Babo, come in; here is room enough for two.” So that night Babo had a +good supper and a sound sleep, and that is a cure for most of a body’s +troubles in this world. + +The third day of their travelling they came to farms and villages, and +there Simon Agricola began to think of showing some of those tricks of +magic that were to make his fortune and Babo’s into the bargain. + +At last they came to a blacksmith’s shop, and there was the smith hard +at work, dinging and donging, and making sweet music with hammer and +anvil. In walked Simon Agricola and gave him good-day. He put his +fingers into his purse, and brought out all the money he had in +the world; it was one golden angel. “Look, friend,” said he to the +blacksmith; “if you will let me have your forge for one hour, I will +give you this money for the use of it.” + +The blacksmith liked the tune of that song very well. “You may have it,” + said he; and he took off his leathern apron without another word, and +Simon Agricola put it on in his stead. + +Presently, who should come riding up to the blacksmith’s shop but a rich +old nobleman and three servants. The servants were hale, stout fellows, +but the nobleman was as withered as a winter leaf. “Can you shoe my +horse?” said he to Simon Agricola, for he took him to be the smith +because of his leathern apron. + +“No,” says Simon Agricola; “that is not my trade: I only know how to +make old people young.” + +“Old people young!” said the old nobleman; “can you make me young +again?” + +“Yes,” said Simon Agricola, “I can, but I must have a thousand golden +angels for doing it.” + +“Very well,” said the old nobleman; “make me young, and you shall have +them and welcome.” + +So Simon Agricola gave the word, and Babo blew the bellows until the +fire blazed and roared. Then the doctor caught the old nobleman, and +laid him upon the forge. He heaped the coals over him, and turned him +this way and that, until he grew red-hot, like a piece of iron. Then he +drew him forth from the fire and dipped him in the water-tank. Phizz! +The water hissed, and the steam rose up in a cloud; and when Simon +Agricola took the old nobleman out, lo and behold! He was as fresh and +blooming and lusty as a lad of twenty. + +But you should have seen how all the people stared and goggled!--Babo +and the blacksmith and the nobleman’s servants. The nobleman strutted up +and down for a while, admiring himself, and then he got upon his +horse again. “But wait,” said Simon Agricola; “you forgot to pay me my +thousand golden angels.” + +“Pooh!” said the nobleman, and off he clattered, with his servants at +his heels; and that was all the good that Simon Agricola had of this +trick. But ill-luck was not done with him yet, for when the smith saw +how matters had turned out, he laid hold of the doctor and would not let +him go until he had paid him the golden angel he had promised for the +use of the forge. The doctor pulled a sour face, but all the same he +had to pay the angel. Then the smith let him go, and off he marched in a +huff. + +Outside of the forge was the smith’s mother--a poor old creature, +withered and twisted and bent as a winter twig. Babo had kept his eyes +open, and had not travelled with Simon Agricola for nothing. He plucked +the smith by the sleeve: “Look’ee, friend,” said he, “how would you like +me to make your mother, over yonder, young again?” + +“I should like nothing better,” said the smith. + +“Very well,” said Babo; “give me the golden angel that the master gave +you, and I’ll do the job for you.” + +Well, the smith paid the money, and Babo bade him blow the bellows. When +the fire roared up good and hot, he caught up the old mother, and, in +spite of her scratching and squalling, he laid her upon the embers. +By-and-by, when he thought the right time had come, he took her out and +dipped her in the tank of water; but instead of turning young, there she +lay, as dumb as a fish and as black as coal. + +When the blacksmith saw what Babo had done to his mother, he caught him +by the collar, and fell to giving him such a dressing down as never man +had before. + +“Help!” bawled Babo. “Help! Murder!” + +Such a hubbub had not been heard in that town for many a day. Back came +Simon Agricola running, and there he saw, and took it all in in one +look. + +“Stop, friend,” said he to the smith, “let the simpleton go; this is not +past mending yet.” + +“Very well,” said the smith; “but he must give me back my golden angel, +and you must cure my mother, or else I’ll have you both up before the +judge.” + +“It shall be done,” said Simon Agricola; so Babo paid back the money, +and the doctor dipped the woman in the water. When he brought her out +she was as well and strong as ever--but just as old as she had been +before. + +“Now be off for a pair of scamps, both of you,” said the blacksmith; +“and if you ever come this way again, I’ll set all the dogs in the town +upon you.” + +Simon Agricola said nothing until they had come out upon the highway +again, and left the town well behind them; then--“Born a fool, live a +fool, die a fool!” says he. + +Babo said nothing, but he rubbed the places where the smith had dusted +his coat. + +The fourth day of their journey they came to a town, and here Simon +Agricola was for trying his tricks of magic again. He and Babo took +up their stand in the corner of the market-place, and began bawling, +“Doctor Knowall! Doctor Knowall! Who has come from the other end of +Nowhere! He can cure any sickness or pain! He can bring you back from +the gates of death! Here is Doctor Knowall! Here is Doctor Knowall!” + +Now there was a very, very rich man in that town, whose daughter lay +sick to death; and when the news of this great doctor was brought to his +ears, he was for having him try his hand at curing the girl. + +“Very well,” said Simon Agricola, “I will do that, but you must pay me +two thousand golden angels.” + +“Two thousand golden angels!” said the rich man; “that is a great deal +of money, but you shall have it if only you will cure my daughter.” + +Simon Agricola drew a little vial from his bosom. From it he poured +just six drops of yellow liquor upon the girl’s tongue. Then--lo and +behold!--up she sat in bed as well and strong as ever, and asked for a +boiled chicken and a dumpling, by way of something to eat. + +“Bless you! Bless you!” said the rich man. + +“Yes, yes; blessings are very good, but I would like to have my two +thousand golden angels,” said Simon Agricola. + +“Two thousand golden angels! I said nothing about two thousand golden +angels,” said the rich man; “two thousand fiddlesticks!” said he. “Pooh! +Pooh! You must have been dreaming! See, here are two hundred silver +pennies, and that is enough and more than enough for six drops of +medicine.” + +“I want my two thousand golden angels,” said Simon Agricola. + +“You will get nothing but two hundred pennies,” said the rich man. + +“I won’t touch one of them,” said Simon Agricola, and off he marched in +a huff. + +But Babo had kept his eyes open. Simon Agricola had laid down the vial +upon the table, and while they were saying this and that back and forth, +thinking of nothing else, Babo quietly slipped it into his own pocket, +without any one but himself being the wiser. + +Down the stairs stumped the doctor with Babo at his heels. There stood +the cook waiting for them. + +“Look,” said he, “my wife is sick in there; won’t you cure her, too?” + +“Pooh!” said Simon Agricola; and out he went, banging the door behind +him. + +“Look, friend,” said Babo to the cook, “here I have some of the same +medicine. Give me the two hundred pennies that the master would not +take, and I’ll cure her for you as sound as a bottle.” + +“Very well,” said the cook, and he counted out the two hundred pennies, +and Babo slipped them into his pocket. He bade the woman open her mouth, +and when she had done so he poured all the stuff down her throat at +once. + +“Ugh!” said she, and therewith rolled up her eyes, and lay as stiff and +dumb as a herring in a box. + +When the cook saw what Babo had done, he snatched up the rolling-pin and +made at him to pound his head to a jelly. But Babo did not wait for his +coming; he jumped out of the window, and away he scampered with the cook +at his heels. + +Well, the upshot of the business was that Simon Agricola had to go back +and bring life to the woman again, or the cook would thump him and Babo +both with the rolling-pin. And, what was more, Babo had to pay back the +two hundred pennies that the cook had given him for curing his wife. + +The wise man made a cross upon the woman’s forehead, and up she sat, as +well--but no better--as before. + +“And now be off,” said the cook, “or I will call the servants and give +you both a drubbing for a pair of scamps.” + +Simon Agricola said never a word until they had gotten out of the town. +There his anger boiled over, like water into the fire. “Look,” said he +to Babo: “Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool.’ I want no more of you. +Here are two roads; you take one, and I will take the other.” + +“What!” said Babo, “am I to travel the rest of the way alone? And then, +besides, how about the fortune you promised me?” + +“Never mind that,” said Simon Agricola; “I have not made my own fortune +yet.” + +“Well, at least pay me something for my wages,” said Babo. + +“How shall I pay you?” said Simon Agricola. “I have not a single groat +in the world.” + +“What!” said Babo, “have you nothing to give me?” + +“I can give you a piece of advice.” + +“Well,” said Babo, “that is better than nothing, so let me have it.” + +“Here it is,” said Simon Agricola: “Think well! Think well!--before you +do what you are about to do, think well!’” + +“Thank you!” said Babo; and then the one went one way, and the other the +other. + +(You may go with the wise man if you choose, but I shall jog along with +the simpleton.) + +After Babo had travelled for a while, he knew not whither, night caught +him, and he lay down under a hedge to sleep. There he lay, and snored +away like a saw-mill, for he was wearied with his long journeying. + +Now it chanced that that same night two thieves had broken into a +miser’s house, and had stolen an iron pot full of gold money. Day broke +before they reached home, so down they sat to consider the matter; and +the place where they seated themselves was on the other side of the +hedge where Babo lay. The older thief was for carrying the money home +under his coat; the younger was for burying it until night had come +again. They squabbled and bickered and argued till the noise they made +wakened Babo, and he sat up. The first thing he thought of was the +advice that the doctor had given him the evening before. + +“Think well!’” he bawled out; “think well! before you do what you are +about to do, think well!’” + +When the two thieves heard Babo’s piece of advice, they thought that the +judge’s officers were after them for sure and certain. Down they dropped +the pot of money, and away they scampered as fast as their legs could +carry them. + +Babo heard them running, and poked his head through the hedge, and there +lay the pot of gold. “Look now,” said he: “this has come from the advice +that was given me; no one ever gave me advice that was worth so much +before.” So he picked up the pot of gold, and off he marched with it. + +He had not gone far before he met two of the king’s officers, and you +may guess how they opened their eyes when they saw him travelling along +the highway with a pot full of gold money. + +“Where are you going with that money?” said they. + +“I don’t know,” said Babo. + +“How did you get it?” said they. + +“I got it for a piece of advice,” said Babo. + +For a piece of advice! No, no--the king’s officers knew butter from +lard, and truth from t’other thing. It was just the same in that country +as it is in our town--there was nothing in the world so cheap as advice. +Whoever heard of anybody giving a pot of gold and silver money for it? +Without another word they marched Babo and his pot of money off to the +king. + +“Come,” said the king, “tell me truly; where did you get the pot of +money?” + +Poor Babo began to whimper. “I got it for a piece of advice,” said he. + +“Really and truly?” said the king. + +“Yes,” said Babo; “really and truly.” + +“Humph!” said the king. “I should like to have advice that is worth as +much as that. Now, how much will you sell your advice to me for?” + +“How much will you give?” said Babo. + +“Well,” said the king, “let me have it for a day on trial, and at the +end of that time I will pay you what it is worth.” + +“Very well,” said Babo, “that is a bargain;” and so he lent the king his +piece of advice for one day on trial. + +Now the chief councillor and some others had laid a plot against the +king’s life, and that morning it had been settled that when the barber +shaved him he was to cut his throat with a razor. So after the barber +had lathered his face he began to whet the razor, and to whet the razor. + +Just at that moment the king remembered Babo’s piece of advice. “Think +well!” said he; “think well! Before you do what you are about to do, +think well!” + +When the barber heard the words that the king said, he thought that +all had been discovered. Down he fell upon his knees, and confessed +everything. + +That is how Babo’s advice saved the king’s life--you can guess whether +the king thought it was worth much or little. When Babo came the next +morning the king gave him ten chests full of money, and that made the +simpleton richer than anybody in all that land. + +He built himself a fine house, and by-and-by married the daughter of the +new councillor that came after the other one’s head had been chopped off +for conspiring against the king’s life. Besides that, he came and went +about the king’s castle as he pleased, and the king made much of him. +Everybody bowed to him, and all were glad to stop and chat awhile with +him when they met him in the street. + +One morning Babo looked out of the window, and who should he see come +travelling along the road but Simon Agricola himself, and he was just as +poor and dusty and travel-stained as ever. + +“Come in, come in!” said Babo; and you can guess how the wise man stared +when he saw the simpleton living in such a fine way. But he opened his +eyes wider than ever when he heard that all these good things came from +the piece of advice he had given Babo that day they had parted at the +cross roads. + +“Aye, aye!” said he, “the luck is with you for sure and certain. But +if you will pay me a thousand golden angels, I will give you something +better than a piece of advice. I will teach you all the magic that is to +be learned from the books.” + +“No,” said Babo, “I am satisfied with the advice.” + +“Very well,” said Simon Agricola, “Born a fool, live a fool, die a +fool’;” and off he went in a huff. + +That is all of this tale except the tip end of it, and that I will give +you now. + +I have heard tell that one day the king dropped in the street the piece +of advice that he had bought from Babo, and that before he found it +again it had been trampled into the mud and dirt. I cannot say for +certain that this is the truth, but it must have been spoiled in some +way or other, for I have never heard of anybody in these days who would +give even so much as a bad penny for it; and yet it is worth just as +much now as it was when Babo sold it to the king. + + +I had sat listening to these jolly folk for all this time, and I had not +heard old Sindbad say a word, and yet I knew very well he was full of +a story, for every now and then I could see his lips move, and he would +smile, and anon he would stroke his long white beard and smile again. + +Everybody clapped their hands and rattled their canicans after the +Blacksmith had ended his story, and methought they liked it better +than almost anything that had been told. Then there was a pause, and +everybody was still, and as nobody else spoke I myself ventured to break +the silence. “I would like,” said I (and my voice sounded thin in my own +ears, as one’s voice always does sound in Twilight Land), “I would like +to hear our friend Sindbad the Sailor tell a story. Methinks one is +fermenting in his mind.” + +Old Sindbad smiled until his cheeks crinkled into wrinkles. + +“Aye,” said every one, “will you not tell a story?” + +“To be sure I will,” said Sindbad. “I will tell you a good story,” said +he, “and it is about--” + + + + +The Enchanted Island. + +But it is not always the lucky one that carries away the plums; +sometimes he only shakes the tree, and the wise man pockets the fruit. + +Once upon a long, long time ago, and in a country far, far away, there +lived two men in the same town and both were named Selim; one was Selim +the Baker and one was Selim the Fisherman. + +Selim the Baker was well off in the world, but Selim the Fisherman was +only so-so. Selim the Baker always had plenty to eat and a warm corner +in cold weather, but many and many a time Selim the Fisherman’s stomach +went empty and his teeth went chattering. + +Once it happened that for time after time Selim the Fisherman caught +nothing but bad luck in his nets, and not so much as a single sprat, +and he was very hungry. “Come,” said he to himself, “those who have some +should surely give to those who have none,” and so he went to Selim the +Baker. “Let me have a loaf of bread,” said he, “and I will pay you for +it tomorrow.” + +“Very well,” said Selim the Baker; “I will let you have a loaf of bread, +if you will give me all that you catch in your nets to-morrow.” + +“So be it,” said Selim the Fisherman, for need drives one to hard +bargains sometimes; and therewith he got his loaf of bread. + +So the next day Selim the Fisherman fished and fished and fished and +fished, and still he caught no more than the day before; until just +at sunset he cast his net for the last time for the day, and, lo and +behold! There was something heavy in it. So he dragged it ashore, and +what should it be but a leaden box, sealed as tight as wax, and covered +with all manner of strange letters and figures. “Here,” said he, “is +something to pay for my bread of yesterday, at any rate;” and as he was +an honest man, off he marched with it to Selim the Baker. + +They opened the box in the baker’s shop, and within they found two rolls +of yellow linen. In each of the rolls of linen was another little leaden +box: in one was a finger-ring of gold set with a red stone, in the other +was a finger-ring of iron set with nothing at all. + +That was all the box held; nevertheless, that was the greatest catch +that ever any fisherman made in the world; for, though Selim the one or +Selim the other knew no more of the matter than the cat under the stove, +the gold ring was the Ring of Luck and the iron ring was the Ring of +Wisdom. + +Inside of the gold ring were carved these letters: “Whosoever wears me, +shall have that which all men seek--for so it is with good-luck in this +world.” + +Inside of the iron ring were written these words: “Whosoever wears me, +shall have that which few men care for--and that is the way it is with +wisdom in our town.” + +“Well,” said Selim the Baker, and he slipped the gold ring of good-luck +on his finger, “I have driven a good bargain, and you have paid for your +loaf of bread.” + +“But what will you do with the other ring?” said Selim the Fisherman. + +“Oh, you may have that,” said Selim the Baker. + +Well, that evening, as Selim the Baker sat in front of his shop in the +twilight smoking a pipe of tobacco, the ring he wore began to work. Up +came a little old man with a white beard, and he was dressed all in gray +from top to toe, and he wore a black velvet cap, and he carried a long +staff in his hand. He stopped in front of Selim the Baker, and stood +looking at him a long, long time. At last--“Is your name Selim?” said +he. + +“Yes,” said Selim the Baker, “it is.” + +“And do you wear a gold ring with a red stone on your finger?” + +“Yes,” said Selim, “I do.” + +“Then come with me,” said the little old man, “and I will show you the +wonder of the world.” + +“Well,” said Selim the Baker, “that will be worth the seeing, at any +rate.” So he emptied out his pipe of tobacco, and put on his hat and +followed the way the old man led. + +Up one street they went, and down another, and here and there through +alleys and byways where Selim had never been before. At last they came +to where a high wall ran along the narrow street, with a garden behind +it, and by-and-by to an iron gate. The old man rapped upon the gate +three times with his knuckles, and cried in a loud voice, “Open to +Selim, who wears the Ring of Luck!” + +Then instantly the gate swung open, and Selim the Baker followed the old +man into the garden. + +Bang! shut the gate behind him, and there he was. + +There he was! And such a place he had never seen before. Such fruit! +Such flowers! Such fountains! Such summer-houses! + +“This is nothing,” said the old man; “this is only the beginning of +wonder. Come with me.” + +He led the way down a long pathway between the trees, and Selim +followed. By-and-by, far away, they saw the light of torches; and when +they came to what they saw, lo and behold! there was the sea-shore, and +a boat with four-and-twenty oarsmen, each dressed in cloth of gold and +silver more splendidly than a prince. And there were four-and-twenty +black slaves, carrying each a torch of spice-wood, so that all the +air was filled with sweet smells. The old man led the way, and Selim, +following, entered the boat; and there was a seat for him made soft with +satin cushions embroidered with gold and precious stones and stuffed +with down, and Selim wondered whether he was not dreaming. + +The oarsmen pushed off from the shore and away they rowed. + +On they rowed and on they rowed for all that livelong night. + +At last morning broke, and then as the sun rose Selim saw such a sight +as never mortal eyes beheld before or since. It was the wonder of +wonders--a great city built on an island. The island was all one +mountain; and on it, one above another and another above that again, +stood palaces that glistened like snow, and orchards of fruit, and +gardens of flowers and green trees. + +And as the boat came nearer and nearer to the city, Selim could see that +all around on the house-tops and down to the water’s edge were crowds +and crowds of people. All were looking out towards the sea, and when +they saw the boat and Selim in it, a great shout went up like the +roaring of rushing waters. + +“It is the King!” they cried--“it is the King! It is Selim the King!” + +Then the boat landed, and there stood dozens of scores of great princes +and nobles to welcome Selim when he came ashore. And there was a white +horse waiting for him to ride, and its saddle and bridle were studded +with diamonds and rubies and emeralds that sparkled and glistened like +the stars in heaven, and Selim thought for sure he must be dreaming with +his eyes open. + +But he was not dreaming, for it was all as true as that eggs are eggs. +So up the hill he rode, and to the grandest and the most splendid of all +the splendid palaces, the princes and noblemen riding with him, and the +crowd shouting as though to split their throats. + +And what a palace it was!--as white as snow and painted all inside +with gold and blue. All around it were gardens blooming with fruit and +flowers, and the like of it mortal man never saw in the world before. + +There they made a king of Selim, and put a golden crown on his head; and +that is what the Ring of Good Luck can do for a baker. + +But wait a bit! There was something queer about it all, and that is now +to be told. + +All that day was feasting and drinking and merry-making, and the +twinging and twanging of music, and dancing of beautiful dancing-girls, +and such things as Selim had never heard tell of in all his life before. +And when night came they lit thousands and thousands of candles of +perfumed wax; so that it was a hard matter to say when night began and +day ended, only that the one smelled sweeter than the other. + +But at last it came midnight, and then suddenly, in an instant, all the +lights went out and everything was as dark as pitch--not a spark, not +a glimmer anywhere. And, just as suddenly, all the sound of music and +dancing and merrymaking ceased, and everybody began to wail and cry +until it was enough to wring one’s heart to hear. Then, in the midst of +all the wailing and crying, a door was flung open, and in came six tall +and terrible black men, dressed all in black from top to toe, carrying +each a flaming torch; and by the light of the torches King Selim saw +that all--the princes, the noblemen, the dancing-girls--all lay on their +faces on the floor. + +The six men took King Selim--who shuddered and shook with fear--by the +arms, and marched him through dark, gloomy entries and passage-ways, +until they came at last to the very heart of the palace. + +There was a great high-vaulted room all of black marble, and in the +middle of it was a pedestal with seven steps, all of black marble; and +on the pedestal stood a stone statue of a woman looking as natural as +life, only that her eyes were shut. The statue was dressed like a queen: +she wore a golden crown on her head, and upon her body hung golden +robes, set with diamonds and emeralds and rubies and sapphires and +pearls and all sorts of precious stones. + +As for the face of the statue, white paper and black ink could not tell +you how beautiful it was. When Selim looked at it, it made his heart +stand still in his breast, it was so beautiful. + +The six men brought Selim up in front of the statue, and then a voice +came as though from the vaulted roof: “Selim! Selim! Selim!” it said, +“what are thou doing? To-day is feasting and drinking and merry-making, +but beware of tomorrow!” + +As soon as these words were ended the six black men marched King Selim +back whence they had brought him; there they left him and passed out one +by one as they had first come in, and the door shut to behind them. + +Then in an instant the lights flashed out again, the music began to +play and the people began to talk and laugh, and King Selim thought that +maybe all that had just passed was only a bit of an ugly dream after +all. + +So that is the way King Selim the Baker began to reign, and that is the +way he continued to reign. All day was feasting and drinking and making +merry and music and laughing and talking. But every night at midnight +the same thing happened: the lights went out, all the people began +wailing and crying, and the six tall, terrible black men came with +flashing torches and marched King Selim away to the beautiful statue. +And every night the same voice said--“Selim! Selim! Selim! What art thou +doing! To-day is feasting and drinking and merry-making; but beware of +tomorrow!” + +So things went on for a twelvemonth, and at last came the end of the +year. That day and night the merry-making was merrier and wilder and +madder than it had ever been before, but the great clock in the tower +went on--tick, tock! tick, tock!--and by and by it came midnight. Then, +as it always happened before, the lights went out, and all was as +black as ink. But this time there was no wailing and crying out, but +everything was silent as death; the door opened slowly, and in came, not +six black men as before, but nine men as silent as death, dressed all in +flaming red, and the torches they carried burned as red as blood. They +took King Selim by the arms, just as the six men had done, and marched +him through the same entries and passageways, and so came at last to +the same vaulted room. There stood the statue, but now it was turned to +flesh and blood, and the eyes were open and looking straight at Selim +the Baker. + +“Art thou Selim?” said she; and she pointed her finger straight at him. + +“Yes, I am Selim,” said he. + +“And dost thou wear the gold ring with the red stone?” said she. + +“Yes,” said he; “I have it on my finger.” + +“And dost thou wear the iron ring?” + +“No,” said he; “I gave that to Selim the Fisherman.” + +The words had hardly left his lips when the statue gave a great cry and +clapped her hands together. In an instant an echoing cry sounded all +over the town--a shriek fit to split the ears. + +The next moment there came another sound--a sound like thunder--above +and below and everywhere. The earth began to shake and to rock, and the +houses began to topple and fall, and the people began to scream and to +yell and to shout, and the waters of the sea began to lash and to roar, +and the wind began to bellow and howl. Then it was a good thing for King +Selim that he wore Luck’s Ring; for, though all the beautiful snow-white +palace about him and above him began to crumble to pieces like slaked +lime, the sticks and the stones and the beams to fall this side of him +and that, he crawled out from under it without a scratch or a bruise, +like a rat out of a cellar. + +That is what Luck’s Ring did for him. + +But his troubles were not over yet; for, just as he came out from under +all the ruin, the island began to sink down into the water, carrying +everything along with it--that is, everything but him and one thing +else. That one other thing was an empty boat, and King Selim climbed +into it, and nothing else saved him from drowning. It was Luck’s Ring +that did that for him also. + +The boat floated on and on until it came to another island that was just +like the island he had left, only that there was neither tree nor blade +of grass nor hide nor hair nor living thing of any kind. Nevertheless, +it was an island just like the other: a high mountain and nothing else. +There Selim the Baker went ashore, and there he would have starved to +death only for Luck’s Ring; for one day a boat came sailing by, and when +poor Selim shouted, those aboard heard him and came and took him off. +How they all stared to see his golden crown--for he still wore it--and +his robes of silk and satin and the gold and jewels! + +Before they would consent to carry him away, they made him give up all +the fine things he had. Then they took him home again to the town whence +he had first come, just as poor as when he had started. Back he went to +his bake-shop and his ovens, and the first thing he did was to take off +his gold ring and put it on the shelf. + +“If that is the ring of good luck,” said he, “I do not want to wear the +like of it.” + +That is the way with mortal man: for one has to have the Ring of Wisdom +as well, to turn the Ring of Luck to good account. + +And now for Selim the Fisherman. + +Well, thus it happened to him. For a while he carried the iron ring +around in his pocket--just as so many of us do--without thinking to put +it on. But one day he slipped it on his finger--and that is what we do +not all of us do. After that he never took it off again, and the world +went smoothly with him. He was not rich, but then he was not poor; he +was not merry, neither was he sad. He always had enough and was thankful +for it, for I never yet knew wisdom to go begging or crying. + +So he went his way and he fished his fish, and twelve months and a week +or more passed by. Then one day he went past the baker shop and there +sat Selim the Baker smoking his pipe of tobacco. + +“So, friend,” said Selim the Fisherman, “you are back again in the old +place, I see.” + +“Yes,” said the other Selim; “awhile ago I was a king, and now I +am nothing but a baker again. As for that gold ring with the red +stone--they may say it is Luck’s Ring if they choose, but when next I +wear it may I be hanged.” + +Thereupon he told Selim the Fisherman the story of what had happened to +him with all its ins and outs, just as I have told it to you. + +“Well!” said Selim the Fisherman, “I should like to have a sight of that +island myself. If you want the ring no longer, just let me have it; for +maybe if I wear it something of the kind will happen to me.” + +“You may have it,” said Selim the Baker. “Yonder it is, and you are +welcome to it.” + +So Selim the Fisherman put on the ring, and then went his way about his +own business. + +That night, as he came home carrying his nets over his shoulder, whom +should he meet but the little old man in gray, with the white beard and +the black cap on his head and the long staff in his hand. + +“Is your name Selim?” said the little man, just as he had done to Selim +the Baker. + +“Yes,” said Selim; “it is.” + +“And do you wear a gold ring with a red stone?” said the little old man, +just as he had said before. + +“Yes,” said Selim; “I do.” + +“Then come with me,” said the little old man, “and I will show you the +wonder of the world.” + +Selim the Fisherman remembered all that Selim the Baker had told him, +and he took no two thoughts as to what to do. Down he tumbled his nets, +and away he went after the other as fast as his legs could carry him. +Here they went and there they went, up crooked streets and lanes and +down by-ways and alley-ways, until at last they came to the same garden +to which Selim the Baker had been brought. Then the old man knocked at +the gate three times and cried out in a loud voice, “Open! Open! Open to +Selim who wears the Ring of Luck!” + +Then the gate opened, and in they went. Fine as it all was, Selim +the Fisherman cared to look neither to the right nor to the left, but +straight after the old man he went, until at last they came to the +seaside and the boat and the four-and-twenty oarsmen dressed like +princes and the black slaves with the perfumed torches. + +Here the old man entered the boat and Selim after him, and away they +sailed. + +To make a long story short, everything happened to Selim the Fisherman +just as it had happened to Selim the Baker. At dawn of day they came to +the island and the city built on the mountain. And the palaces were just +as white and beautiful, and the gardens and orchards just as fresh and +blooming as though they had not all tumbled down and sunk under the +water a week before, almost carrying poor Selim the Baker with them. +There were the people dressed in silks and satins and jewels, just as +Selim the Baker had found them, and they shouted and hurrahed for Selim +the Fisherman just as they had shouted and hurrahed for the other. +There were the princes and the nobles and the white horse, and Selim the +Fisherman got on his back and rode up to a dazzling snow-white palace, +and they put a crown on his head and made a king of him, just as they +had made a king of Selim the Baker. + +That night, at midnight, it happened just as it had happened before. +Suddenly, as the hour struck, the lights all went out, and there was a +moaning and a crying enough to make the heart curdle. Then the door +flew open, and in came the six terrible black men with torches. They +led Selim the Fisherman through damp and dismal entries and passage-ways +until they came to the vaulted room of black marble, and there stood +the beautiful statue on its black pedestal. Then came the voice from +above--“Selim! Selim! Selim!” it cried, “what art thou doing? To-day is +feasting and drinking and merry-making, but beware of to-morrow!” + +But Selim the Fisherman did not stand still and listen, as Selim the +Baker had done. He called out, “I hear the words! I am listening! I will +beware to-day for the sake of to-morrow!” + +I do not know what I should have done had I been king of that island and +had I known that in a twelve-month it would all come tumbling down about +my ears and sink into the sea, maybe carry me along with it. This is +what Selim the Fisherman did [but then he wore the iron Ring of Wisdom +on his finger, and I never had that upon mine]: + +First of all, he called the wisest men of the island to him, and found +from them just where the other desert island lay upon which the boat +with Selim the Baker in it had drifted. + +Then, when he had learned where it was to be found, he sent armies and +armies of men and built on that island palaces and houses, and planted +there orchards and gardens, just like the palaces and the orchards and +the gardens about him--only a great deal finer. Then he sent fleets and +fleets of ships, and carried everything away from the island where he +lived to that other island--all the men and the women and the children; +all the flocks and herds and every living thing; all the fowls and the +birds and everything that wore feathers; all the gold and the silver and +the jewels and the silks and the satins, and whatever was of any good +or of any use; and when all these things were done, there were still two +days left till the end of the year. + +Upon the first of these two days he sent over the beautiful statue and +had it set up in the very midst of the splendid new palace he had built. + +Upon the second day he went over himself, leaving behind him nothing but +the dead mountain and the rocks and the empty houses. + +So came the end of the twelve months. + +So came midnight. + +Out went all the lights in the new palace, and everything was as silent +as death and as black as ink. The door opened, and in came the nine +men in red, with torches burning as red as blood. They took Selim the +Fisherman by the arms and led him to the beautiful statue, and there she +was with her eyes open. + +“Are you Selim?” said she. + +“Yes, I am Selim,” said he. + +“And do you wear the iron Ring of Wisdom?” said she. + +“Yes, I do,” said he; and so he did. + +There was no roaring and thundering, there was no shaking and quaking, +there was no toppling and tumbling, there was no splashing and dashing: +for this island was solid rock, and was not all enchantment and hollow +inside and underneath like the other which he had left behind. + +The beautiful statue smiled until the place lit up as though the sun +shone. Down she came from the pedestal where she stood and kissed Selim +the Fisherman on the lips. + +Then instantly the lights blazed everywhere, and the people shouted and +cheered, and the music played. But neither Selim the Fisherman nor the +beautiful statue saw or heard anything. + +“I have done all this for you!” said Selim the Fisherman. + +“And I have been waiting for you a thousand years!” said the beautiful +statue--only she was not a statue any longer. + +After that they were married, and Selim the Fisherman and the enchanted +statue became king and queen in real earnest. + +I think Selim the Fisherman sent for Selim the Baker and made him rich +and happy--I hope he did--I am sure he did. + +So, after all, it is not always the lucky one who gathers the plums when +wisdom is by to pick up what the other shakes down. + + +I could say more; for, O little children! little children! there is +more than meat in many an egg-shell; and many a fool tells a story that +joggles a wise man’s wits, and many a man dances and junkets in his +fool’s paradise till it comes tumbling down about his ears some day; and +there are few men who are like Selim the Fisherman, who wear the Ring of +Wisdom on their finger, and, alack-a-day! I am not one of them, and that +is the end of this story. + + +Old Bidpai nodded his head. “Aye, aye,” said he, “there is a very good +moral in that story, my friend. It is, as a certain philosopher said, +very true, that there is more in an egg than the meat. And truly, +methinks, there is more in thy story than the story of itself.” He +nodded his head again and stroked his beard slowly, puffing out as he +did so as a great reflective cloud of smoke, through which his eyes +shone and twinkled mistily like stars through a cloud. + +“And whose turn is it now?” said Doctor Faustus. + +“Methinks tis mine,” said Boots--he who in fairy-tale always sat in the +ashes at home and yet married a princess after he had gone out into the +world awhile. “My story,” said he, “hath no moral, but, all the same, it +is as true as that eggs hatch chickens.” Then, without waiting for any +one to say another word, he began it in these words. “I am going to tell +you,” said he, how-- + + + + + +All Things are as Fate wills. + +Once upon a time, in the old, old days, there lived a king who had a +head upon his shoulders wiser than other folk, and this was why: though +he was richer and wiser and greater than most kings, and had all that he +wanted and more into the bargain, he was so afraid of becoming proud of +his own prosperity that he had these words written in letters of gold +upon the walls of each and every room in his palace: + +All Things are as Fate wills. + +Now, by-and-by and after a while the king died; for when his time comes, +even the rich and the wise man must die, as well as the poor and the +simple man. So the king’s son came, in turn, to be king of that land; +and, though he was not so bad as the world of men goes, he was not the +man that his father was, as this story will show you. + +One day, as he sat with his chief councillor, his eyes fell upon the +words written in letters of gold upon the wall--the words that his +father had written there in time gone by: + +All Things are as Fate wills; and the young king did not like the taste +of them, for he was very proud of his own greatness. “That is not so,” + said he, pointing to the words on the wall. “Let them be painted out, +and these words written in their place: + + All Things are as Man does.” + +Now, the chief councillor was a grave old man, and had been councillor +to the young king’s father. “Do not be too hasty, my lord king,” said +he. “Try first the truth of your own words before you wipe out those +that your father has written.” + +“Very well,” said the young king, “so be it. I will approve the truth of +my words. Bring me hither some beggar from the town whom Fate has made +poor, and I will make him rich. So I will show you that his life shall +be as I will, and not as Fate wills.” + +Now, in that town there was a poor beggar-man who used to sit every +day beside the town gate, begging for something for charity’s sake. +Sometimes people gave him a penny or two, but it was little or nothing +that he got, for Fate was against him. + +The same day that the king and the chief councillor had had their +talk together, as the beggar sat holding up his wooden bowl and asking +charity of those who passed by, there suddenly came three men who, +without saying a word, clapped hold of him and marched him off. + +It was in vain that the beggar talked and questioned--in vain that he +begged and besought them to let him go. Not a word did they say to him, +either of good or bad. At last they came to a gate that led through a +high wall and into a garden, and there the three stopped, and one of +them knocked upon the gate. In answer to his knocking it flew open. He +thrust the beggar into the garden neck and crop, and then the gate was +banged to again. + +But what a sight it was the beggar saw before his eyes!--flowers, and +fruit-trees, and marble walks, and a great fountain that shot up a +jet of water as white as snow. But he had not long to stand gaping and +staring around him, for in the garden were a great number of people, +who came hurrying to him, and who, without speaking a word to him or +answering a single question, or as much as giving him time to think, +led him to a marble bath of tepid water. There he was stripped of his +tattered clothes and washed as clean as snow. Then, as some of the +attendants dried him with fine linen towels, others came carrying +clothes fit for a prince to wear, and clad the beggar in them from head +to foot. After that, still without saying a word, they let him out from +the bath again, and there he found still other attendants waiting for +him--two of them holding a milk-white horse, saddled and bridled, and +fit for an emperor to ride. These helped him to mount, and then, leaping +into their own saddles, rode away with the beggar in their midst. + +They rode of the garden and into the streets, and on and on they went +until they came to the king’s palace, and there they stopped. Courtiers +and noblemen and great lords were waiting for their coming, some of whom +helped him to dismount from the horse, for by this time the beggar was +so overcome with wonder that he stared like one moon-struck, and as +though his wits were addled. Then, leading the way up the palace steps, +they conducted him from room to room, until at last they came to one +more grand and splendid than all the rest, and there sat the king +himself waiting for the beggar’s coming. + +The beggar would have flung himself at the king’s feet, but the king +would not let him; for he came down from the throne where he sat, and, +taking the beggar by the hand, led him up and sat him alongside of him. +Then the king gave orders to the attendants who stood about, and a feast +was served in plates of solid gold upon a table-cloth of silver--a feast +such as the beggar had never dreamed of, and the poor man ate as he had +never eaten in his life before. + +All the while that the king and the beggar were eating, musicians played +sweet music and dancers danced and singers sang. + +Then when the feast was over there came ten young men, bringing flasks +and flagons of all kinds, full of the best wine in the world; and the +beggar drank as he had never drank in his life before, and until his +head spun like a top. + +So the king and the beggar feasted and made merry, until at last the +clock struck twelve and the king arose from his seat. “My friend,” said +he to the beggar, “all these things have been done to show you that Luck +and Fate, which have been against you for all these years, are now for +you. Hereafter, instead of being poor you shall be the richest of +the rich, for I will give you the greatest thing that I have in my +treasury,” Then he called the chief treasurer, who came forward with a +golden tray in his hand. Upon the tray was a purse of silk. “See,” said +the king, “here is a purse, and in the purse are one hundred pieces of +gold money. But though that much may seem great to you, it is but little +of the true value of the purse. Its virtue lies in this: that however +much you may take from it, there will always be one hundred pieces of +gold money left in it. Now go; and while you are enjoying the riches +which I give you, I have only to ask you to remember these are not the +gifts of Fate, but of a mortal man.” + +But all the while he was talking the beggar’s head was spinning and +spinning, and buzzing and buzzing, so that he hardly heard a word of +what the king said. + +Then when the king had ended his speech, the lords and gentlemen who had +brought the beggar in led him forth again. Out they went through room +after room--out through the courtyard, out through the gate. + +Bang!--it was shut to behind him, and he found himself standing in the +darkness of midnight, with the splendid clothes upon his back, and the +magic purse with its hundred pieces of gold money in his pocket. + +He stood looking about himself for a while, and then off he started +homeward, staggering and stumbling and shuffling, for the wine that he +had drank made him so light-headed that all the world spun topsy-turvy +around him. + +His way led along by the river, and on he went stumbling and staggering. +All of a sudden--plump! splash!--he was in the water over head and ears. +Up he came, spitting out the water and shouting for help, splashing and +sputtering, and kicking and swimming, knowing no more where he was than +the man in the moon. Sometimes his head was under water and sometimes it +was up again. + +At last, just as his strength was failing him, his feet struck the +bottom, and he crawled up on the shore more dead than alive. Then, +through fear and cold and wet, he swooned away, and lay for a long time +for all the world as though he were dead. + +Now, it chanced that two fisherman were out with their nets that night, +and Luck or Fate led them by the way where the beggar lay on the shore. +“Halloa!” said one of the fishermen, “here is a poor body drowned!” They +turned him over, and then they saw what rich clothes he wore, and felt +that he had a purse in his pocket. + +“Come,” said the second fisherman, “he is dead, whoever he is. His fine +clothes and his purse of money can do him no good now, and we might as +well have them as anybody else.” So between them both they stripped the +beggar of all that the king had given him, and left him lying on the +beach. + +At daybreak the beggar awoke from the swoon, and there he found himself +lying without a stitch to his back, and half dead with the cold and the +water he had swallowed. Then, fearing lest somebody might see him, he +crawled away into the rushes that grew beside the river, there to hide +himself until night should come again. + +But as he went, crawling upon hands and knees, he suddenly came upon a +bundle that had been washed up by the water, and when he laid eyes upon +it his heart leaped within him, for what should that bundle be but the +patches and tatters which he had worn the day before, and which the +attendants had thrown over the garden wall and into the river when they +had dressed him in the fine clothes the king gave him. + +He spread his clothes out in the sun until they were dry, and then he +put them on and went back into the town again. + +“Well,” said the king, that morning, to his chief councillor, “what do +you think now? Am I not greater than Fate? Did I not make the beggar +rich? And shall I not paint my father’s words out from the wall, and put +my own there instead?” + +“I do not know,” said the councillor, shaking his head. “Let us first +see what has become of the beggar.” + +“So be it,” said the king; and he and the councillor set off to see +whether the beggar had done as he ought to do with the good things that +the king had given him. So they came to the towngate, and there, lo and +behold! the first thing that they saw was the beggar with his wooden +bowl in his hand asking those who passed by for a stray penny or two. + +When the king saw him he turned without a word, and rode back home +again. “Very well,” said he to the chief councillor, “I have tried to +make the beggar rich and have failed; nevertheless, if I cannot make him +I can ruin him in spite of Fate, and that I will show you.” + +So all that while the beggar sat at the towngate and begged until came +noontide, when who should he see coming but the same three men who had +come for him the day before. “Ah, ha!” said he to himself, “now the +king is going to give me some more good things.” And so when the three +reached him he was willing enough to go with them, rough as they were. + +Off they marched; but this time they did not come to any garden with +fruits and flowers and fountains and marble baths. Off they marched, +and when they stopped it was in front of the king’s palace. This time +no nobles and great lords and courtiers were waiting for his coming; +but instead of that the town hangman--a great ugly fellow, clad in black +from head to foot. Up he came to the beggar, and, catching him by the +scruff of his neck, dragged him up the palace steps and from room to +room until at last he flung him down at the king’s feet. + +When the poor beggar gathered wits enough to look about him he saw there +a great chest standing wide open, and with holes in the lid. He wondered +what it was for, but the king gave him no chance to ask; for, beckoning +with his hand, the hangman and the others caught the beggar by arms and +legs, thrust him into the chest, and banged down the lid upon him. + +The king locked it and double-locked it, and set his seal upon it; and +there was the beggar as tight as a fly in a bottle. + +They carried the chest out and thrust it into a cart and hauled it away, +until at last they came to the sea-shore. There they flung chest and +all into the water, and it floated away like a cork. And that is how the +king set about to ruin the poor beggar-man. + +Well, the chest floated on and on for three days, and then at last it +came to the shore of a country far away. There the waves caught it up, +and flung it so hard upon the rocks of the sea-beach that the chest was +burst open by the blow, and the beggar crawled out with eyes as big as +saucers and face as white as dough. After he had sat for a while, and +when his wits came back to him and he had gathered strength enough, he +stood up and looked around to see where Fate had cast him; and far away +on the hill-sides he saw the walls and the roofs and the towers of the +great town, shining in the sunlight as white as snow. + +“Well,” said he, “here is something to be thankful for, at least,” and +so saying and shaking the stiffness out of his knees and elbows, he +started off for the white walls and the red roofs in the distance. + +At last he reached the great gate, and through it he could see the stony +streets and multitudes of people coming and going. + +But it was not for him to enter that gate. Out popped two soldiers with +great battle-axes in their hands and looking as fierce as dragons. “Are +you a stranger in this town?” said one in a great, gruff voice. + +“Yes,” said the beggar, “I am.” + +“And where are you going?” + +“I am going into the town.” + +“No, you are not.” + +“Why not?” + +“Because no stranger enters here. Yonder is the pathway. You must take +that if you would enter the town.” + +“Very well,” said the beggar, “I would just as lief go into the town +that way as another.” + +So off he marched without another word. On and on he went along the +narrow pathway until at last he came to a little gate of polished brass. +Over the gate were written these words, in great letters as red as +blood: + +“Who Enters here Shall Surely Die.” + +Many and many a man besides the beggar had travelled that path and +looked up at those letters, and when he had read them had turned and +gone away again. But the beggar neither turned nor went away; because +why, he could neither read nor write a word, and so the blood-red +letters had no fear for him. Up he marched to the brazen gate, as boldly +as though it had been a kitchen door, and rap! tap! tap! he knocked upon +it. He waited awhile, but nobody came. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked again; +and then, after a little while, for the third time--Rap! tap! tap! Then +instantly the gate swung open and he entered. So soon as he had crossed +the threshold it was banged to behind him again, just as the garden gate +had been when the king had first sent for him. He found himself in a +long, dark entry, and at the end of it another door, and over it the +same words, written in blood-red letters: + +“Beware! Beware! Who Enters here Shall Surely Die!” + +“Well,” said the beggar, “this is the hardest town for a body to come +into that I ever saw.” And then he opened the second door and passed +through. + +It was fit to deafen a body! Such a shout the beggar’s ears had never +heard before; such a sight the beggar’s eyes had never beheld, for +there, before him, was a great splendid hall of marble as white as snow. +All along the hall stood scores of lords and ladies in silks and satins, +and with jewels on their necks and arms fit to dazzle a body’s eyes. +Right up the middle of the hall stretched a carpet of blue velvet, and +at the farther end, on a throne of gold, sat a lady as beautiful as the +sun and moon and all the stars. + +“Welcome! welcome!” they all shouted, until the beggar was nearly +deafened by the noise they all made, and the lady herself stood up and +smiled upon him. + +Then there came three young men, and led the beggar up the carpet of +velvet to the throne of gold. + +“Welcome, my hero!” said the beautiful lady; “and have you, then, come +at last?” + +“Yes,” said the beggar, “I have.” + +“Long have I waited for you,” said the lady; “long have I waited for the +hero who would dare without fear to come through the two gates of death +to marry me and to rule as king over this country, and now at last you +are here.” + +“Yes,” said the beggar, “I am.” + +Meanwhile, while all these things were happening, the king of that other +country had painted out the words his father had written on the walls, +and had had these words painted in in their stead: + +“All Things are as Man does.” + +For a while he was very well satisfied with them, until, a week after, +he was bidden to the wedding of the Queen of the Golden Mountains; for +when he came there who should the bridegroom be but the beggar whom he +had set adrift in the wooden box a week or so before. + +The bridegroom winked at him, but said never a word, good or ill, for he +was willing to let all that had happened be past and gone. But the king +saw how matters stood as clear as daylight, and when he got back home +again he had the new words that stood on the walls of the room painted +out, and had the old ones painted in in bigger letters than ever: + +“All Things are as Fate wills.” + + +All the good people who were gathered around the table of the Sign of +Mother Goose sat thinking for a while over the story. As for Boots, he +buried his face in the quart pot and took a long, long pull at the ale. + +“Methinks,” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, presently breaking +silence--“methinks there be very few of the women folk who do their +share of this story-telling. So far we have had but one, and that is +Lady Cinderella. I see another one present, and I drink to her health.” + +He winked his eye at Patient Grizzle, beckoning towards her with his +quart pot, and took a long and hearty pull. Then he banged his mug down +upon the table. “Fetch me another glass, lass,” said he to little Brown +Betty. “Meantime, fair lady”--this he said to Patient Grizzle--“will you +not entertain us with some story of your own?” + +“I know not,” said Patient Grizzle, “that I can tell you any story worth +your hearing.” + +“Aye, aye, but you can,” said the Soldier who cheated the Devil; “and, +moreover, anything coming from betwixt such red lips and such white +teeth will be worth the listening to.” + +Patient Grizzle smiled, and the brave little Tailor, and the Lad who +fiddled for the Jew, and Hans and Bidpai and Boots nodded approval. + +“Aye,” said Ali Baba, “it is true enough that there have been but few +of the women folk who have had their say, and methinks that it is very +strange and unaccountable, for nearly always they have plenty to speak +in their own behalf.” + +All who sat there in Twilight Land laughed, and even Patient Grizzle +smiled. + +“Very well,” said Patient Grizzle, “if you will have it, I will tell you +a story. It is about a fisherman who was married and had a wife of his +own, and who made her carry all the load of everything that happened to +him. For he, like most men I wot of, had found out--” + + + + +Where to Lay the Blame. + +Many and many a man has come to trouble--so he will say--by following +his wife’s advice. This is how it was with a man of whom I shall tell +you. + +There was once upon a time a fisherman who had fished all day long and +had caught not so much as a sprat. So at night there he sat by the fire, +rubbing his knees and warming his shins, and waiting for supper that his +wife was cooking for him, and his hunger was as sharp as vinegar, and +his temper hot enough to fry fat. + +While he sat there grumbling and growling and trying to make himself +comfortable and warm, there suddenly came a knock at the door. The good +woman opened it, and there stood an old man, clad all in red from head +to foot, and with a snowy beard at his chin as white as winter snow. + +The fisherman’s wife stood gaping and staring at the strange figure, +but the old man in red walked straight into the hut. “Bring your nets, +fisherman,” said he, “and come with me. There is something that I want +you to catch for me, and if I have luck I will pay you for your fishing +as never fisherman was paid before.” + +“Not I,” said the fisherman, “I go out no more this night. I have been +fishing all day long until my back is nearly broken, and have caught +nothing, and now I am not such a fool as to go out and leave a warm fire +and a good supper at your bidding.” + +But the fisherman’s wife had listened to what the old man had said about +paying for the job, and she was of a different mind from her husband. +“Come,” said she, “the old man promises to pay you well. This is not a +chance to be lost, I can tell you, and my advice to you is that you go.” + +The fisherman shook his head. No, he would not go; he had said he would +not, and he would not. But the wife only smiled and said again, “My +advice to you is that you go.” + +The fisherman grumbled and grumbled, and swore that he would not go. The +wife said nothing but one thing. She did not argue; she did not lose her +temper; she only said to everything that he said, “My advice to you is +that you go.” + +At last the fisherman’s anger boiled over. “Very well,” said he, +spitting his words at her; “if you will drive me out into the night, I +suppose I will have to go.” And then he spoke the words that so many men +say: “Many a man has come to trouble by following his wife’s advice.” + +Then down he took his fur cap and up he took his nets, and off he and +the old man marched through the moonlight, their shadows bobbing along +like black spiders behind them. + +Well, on they went, out from the town and across the fields and through +the woods, until at last they came to a dreary, lonesome desert, where +nothing was to be seen but gray rocks and weeds and thistles. + +“Well,” said the fisherman, “I have fished, man and boy, for forty-seven +years, but never did I see as unlikely a place to catch anything as +this.” + +But the old man said never a word. First of all he drew a great circle +with strange figures, marking it with his finger upon the ground. Then +out from under his red gown he brought a tinder-box and steel, and a +little silver casket covered all over with strange figures of serpents +and dragons and what not. He brought some sticks of spice-wood from his +pouch, and then he struck a light and made a fire. Out of the box he +took a gray powder, which he flung upon the little blaze. + +Puff! flash! A vivid flame went up into the moonlight, and then a dense +smoke as black as ink, which spread out wider and wider, far and near, +till all below was darker than the darkest midnight. Then the old +man began to utter strange spells and words. Presently there began a +rumbling that sounded louder and louder and nearer and nearer, until it +roared and bellowed like thunder. The earth rocked and swayed, and the +poor fisherman shook and trembled with fear till his teeth clattered in +his head. + +Then suddenly the roaring and bellowing ceased, and all was as still as +death, though the darkness was as thick and black as ever. + +“Now,” said the old magician--for such he was--“now we are about to take +a journey such as no one ever travelled before. Heed well what I tell +you. Speak not a single word, for if you do, misfortune will be sure to +happen.” + +“Ain’t I to say anything?” said the fisherman. + +“No.” + +“Not even boo’ to a goose?” + +“No.” + +“Well, that is pretty hard upon a man who likes to say his say,” said +the fisherman. + +“And moreover,” said the old man, “I must blindfold you as well.” + +Thereupon he took from his pocket a handkerchief, and made ready to tie +it about the fisherman’s eyes. + +“And ain’t I to see anything at all?” said the fisherman. + +“No.” + +“Not even so much as a single feather?” + +“No.” + +“Well, then,” said the fisherman, “I wish I’d not come.” + +But the old man tied the handkerchief tightly around his eyes, and then +he was as blind as a bat. + +“Now,” said the old man, “throw your leg over what you feel and hold +fast.” + +The fisherman reached down his hand, and there felt the back of +something rough and hairy. He flung his leg over it, and whisk! whizz! +off he shot through the air like a sky-rocket. Nothing was left for him +to do but grip tightly with hands and feet and to hold fast. On they +went, and on they went, until, after a great while, whatever it was +that was carrying him lit upon the ground, and there the fisherman found +himself standing, for that which had brought him had gone. + +The old man whipped the handkerchief off his eyes, and there the +fisherman found himself on the shores of the sea, where there was +nothing to be seen but water upon one side and rocks and naked sand upon +the other. + +“This is the place for you to cast your nets,” said the old magician; +“for if we catch nothing here we catch nothing at all.” + +The fisherman unrolled his nets and cast them and dragged them, and then +cast them and dragged them again, but neither time caught so much as +a herring. But the third time that he cast he found that he had caught +something that weighed as heavy as lead. He pulled and pulled, until +by-and-by he dragged the load ashore, and what should it be but a great +chest of wood, blackened by the sea-water, and covered with shells and +green moss. + +That was the very thing that the magician had come to fish for. + +From his pouch the old man took a little golden key, which he fitted +into a key-hole in the side of the chest. He threw back the lid; the +fisherman looked within, and there was the prettiest little palace that +man’s eye ever beheld, all made of mother-of-pearl and silver-frosted as +white as snow. The old magician lifted the little palace out of the box +and set it upon the ground. + +Then, lo and behold! a marvellous thing happened; for the palace +instantly began to grow for all the world like a soap-bubble, until it +stood in the moonlight gleaming and glistening like snow, the windows +bright with the lights of a thousand wax tapers, and the sound of music +and voices and laughter coming from within. + +Hardly could the fisherman catch his breath from one strange thing +when another happened. The old magician took off his clothes and his +face--yes, his face--for all the world as though it had been a mask, and +there stood as handsome and noble a young man as ever the light looked +on. Then, beckoning to the fisherman, dumb with wonder, he led the way +up the great flight of marble steps to the palace door. As he came +the door swung open with a blaze of light, and there stood hundreds of +noblemen, all clad in silks and satins and velvets, who, when they +saw the magician, bowed low before him, as though he had been a king. +Leading the way, they brought the two through halls and chambers and +room after room, each more magnificent than the other, until they came +to one that surpassed a hundredfold any of the others. + +At the farther end was a golden throne, and upon it sat a lady more +lovely and beautiful than a dream, her eyes as bright as diamonds, her +cheeks like rose leaves, and her hair like spun gold. She came half-way +down the steps of the throne to welcome the magician, and when the two +met they kissed one another before all those who were looking on. Then +she brought him to the throne and seated him beside her, and there they +talked for a long time very earnestly. + +Nobody said a word to the fisherman, who stood staring about him like an +owl. “I wonder,” said he to himself at last, “if they will give a body a +bite to eat by-and-by?” for, to tell the truth, the good supper that +he had come away from at home had left a sharp hunger gnawing at his +insides, and he longed for something good and warm to fill the empty +place. But time passed, and not so much as a crust of bread was brought +to stay his stomach. + +By-and-by the clock struck twelve, and then the two who sat upon the +throne arose. The beautiful lady took the magician by the hand, and, +turning to those who stood around, said, in a loud voice, “Behold him +who alone is worthy to possess the jewel of jewels! Unto him do I give +it, and with it all power of powers!” Thereon she opened a golden casket +that stood beside her, and brought thence a little crystal ball, about +as big as a pigeon’s egg, in which was something that glistened like a +spark of fire. The magician took the crystal ball and thrust it into his +bosom; but what it was the fisherman could not guess, and if you do not +know I shall not tell you. + +Then for the first time the beautiful lady seemed to notice the +fisherman. She beckoned him, and when he stood beside her two men came +carrying a chest. The chief treasurer opened it, and it was full of bags +of gold money. “How will you have it?” said the beautiful lady. + +“Have what?” said the fisherman. + +“Have the pay for your labor?” said the beautiful lady. + +“I will,” said the fisherman, promptly, “take it in my hat.” + +“So be it,” said the beautiful lady. She waved her hand, and the chief +treasurer took a bag from the chest, untied it, and emptied a cataract +of gold into the fur cap. The fisherman had never seen so much wealth in +all his life before, and he stood like a man turned to stone. + +“Is this all mine?” said the fisherman. + +“It is,” said the beautiful lady. + +“Then God bless your pretty eyes,” said the fisherman. + +Then the magician kissed the beautiful lady, and, beckoning to the +fisherman, left the throne-room the same way that they had come. The +noblemen, in silks and satins and velvets, marched ahead, and back they +went through the other apartments, until at last they came to the door. + +Out they stepped, and then what do you suppose happened? + +If the wonderful palace had grown like a bubble, like a bubble it +vanished. There the two stood on the sea-shore, with nothing to be seen +but rocks and sand and water, and the starry sky overhead. + +The fisherman shook his cap of gold, and it jingled and tinkled, and was +as heavy as lead. If it was not all a dream, he was rich for life. “But +anyhow,” said he, “they might have given a body a bite to eat.” + +The magician put on his red clothes and his face again, making himself +as hoary and as old as before. He took out his flint and steel, and +his sticks of spice-wood and his gray powder, and made a great fire and +smoke just as he had done before. Then again he tied his handkerchief +over the fisherman’s eyes. “Remember,” said he, “what I told you when we +started upon our journey. Keep your mouth tight shut, for if you utter +so much as a single word you are a lost man. Now throw your leg over +what you feel and hold fast.” + +The fisherman had his net over one arm and his cap of gold in the other +hand; nevertheless, there he felt the same hairy thing he had felt +before. He flung his leg over it, and away he was gone through the air +like a sky-rocket. + +Now, he had grown somewhat used to strange things by this time, so he +began to think that he would like to see what sort of a creature it was +upon which he was riding thus through the sky. So he contrived, in spite +of his net and cap, to push up the handkerchief from over one eye. Out +he peeped, and then he saw as clear as day what the strange steed was. + +He was riding upon a he-goat as black as night, and in front of him +was the magician riding upon just such another, his great red robe +fluttering out behind him in the moonlight like huge red wings. + +“Great herring and little fishes!” roared the fisherman; “it is a +billy-goat!” + +Instantly goats, old man, and all were gone like a flash. Down fell the +fisherman through the empty sky, whirling over and over and around and +around like a frog. He held tightly to his net, but away flew his fur +cap, the golden money falling in a shower like sparks of yellow light. +Down he fell and down he fell, until his head spun like a top. + +By good-luck his house was just below, with its thatch of soft +rushes. Into the very middle of it he tumbled, and right through the +thatch--bump!--into the room below. + +The good wife was in bed, snoring away for dear life; but such a noise +as the fisherman made coming into the house was enough to wake the dead. +Up she jumped, and there she sat, staring and winking with sleep, and +with her brains as addled as a duck’s egg in a thunder-storm. + +“There!” said the fisherman, as he gathered himself up and rubbed his +shoulder, “that is what comes of following a woman’s advice!” + + +All the good folk clapped their hands, not so much because of the story +itself, but because it was a woman who told it. + +“Aye, aye,” said the brave little Tailor, “there is truth in what you +tell, fair lady, and I like very well the way in which you have told +it.” + +“Whose turn is it next?” said Doctor Faustus, lighting a fresh pipe of +tobacco. + +“Tis the turn of yonder old gentleman,” said the Soldier who cheated +the Devil, and he pointed with the stem of his pipe to the Fisherman who +unbottled the Genie that King Solomon had corked up and thrown into the +sea. “Every one else hath told a story, and now it is his turn.” + +“I will not deny, my friend, that what you say is true, and that it is +my turn,” said the Fisherman. “Nor will I deny that I have already a +story in my mind. It is,” said he, “about a certain prince, and of how +he went through many and one adventures, and at last discovered that +which is--” + + + + +The Salt of Life. + +Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, and by the time +that the youngest prince had down upon his chin the king had grown so +old that the cares of the kingdom began to rest over-heavily upon his +shoulders. So he called his chief councillor and told him that he was of +a mind to let the princes reign in his stead. To the son who loved him +the best he would give the largest part of his kingdom, to the son who +loved him the next best the next part, and to the son who loved him the +least the least part. The old councillor was very wise and shook his +head, but the king’s mind had long been settled as to what he was about +to do. So he called the princes to him one by one and asked each as to +how much he loved him. + +“I love you as a mountain of gold,” said the oldest prince, and the king +was very pleased that his son should give him such love. + +“I love you as a mountain of silver,” said the second prince, and the +king was pleased with that also. + +But when the youngest prince was called, he did not answer at first, but +thought and thought. At last he looked up. “I love you,” said he, “as I +love salt.” + +When the king heard what his youngest son said he was filled with anger. +“What!” he cried, “do you love me no better than salt--a stuff that is +the most bitter of all things to the taste, and the cheapest and the +commonest of all things in the world? Away with you, and never let me +see your face again! Henceforth you are no son of mine.” + +The prince would have spoken, but the king would not allow him, and bade +his guards thrust the young man forth from the room. + +Now the queen loved the youngest prince the best of all her sons, and +when she heard how the king was about to drive him forth into the wide +world to shift for himself, she wept and wept. “Ah, my son!” said she to +him, “it is little or nothing that I have to give you. Nevertheless, I +have one precious thing. Here is a ring; take it and wear it always, +for so long as you have it upon your finger no magic can have power over +you.” + +Thus it was that the youngest prince set forth into the wide world with +little or nothing but a ring upon his finger. + +For seven days he travelled on, and knew not where he was going or +whither his footsteps led. At the end of that time he came to the gates +of a town. The prince entered the gates, and found himself in a city +the like of which he had never seen in his life before for grandeur and +magnificence--beautiful palaces and gardens, stores and bazaars crowded +with rich stuffs of satin and silk and wrought silver and gold of +cunningest workmanship; for the land to which he had come was the +richest in all of the world. All that day he wandered up and down, and +thought nothing of weariness and hunger for wonder of all that he +saw. But at last evening drew down, and he began to bethink himself of +somewhere to lodge during the night. + +Just then he came to a bridge, over the wall of which leaned an old man +with a long white beard, looking down into the water. He was dressed +richly but soberly, and every now and then he sighed and groaned, and as +the prince drew near he saw the tears falling--drip, drip--from the old +man’s eyes. + +The prince had a kind heart, and could not bear to see one in distress; +so he spoke to the old man, and asked him his trouble. + +“Ah, me!” said the other, “only yesterday I had a son, tall and handsome +like yourself. But the queen took him to sup with her, and I am left all +alone in my old age, like a tree stripped of leaves and fruit.” + +“But surely,” said the prince, “it can be no such sad matter to sup with +a queen. That is an honor that most men covet.” + +“Ah!” said the old man, “you are a stranger in this place, or else you +would know that no youth so chosen to sup with the queen ever returns to +his home again.” + +“Yes,” said the prince, “I am a stranger and have only come hither this +day, and so do not understand these things. Even when I found you I was +about to ask the way to some inn where folk of good condition lodge.” + +“Then come home with me to-night,” said the old man. “I live all alone, +and I will tell you the trouble that lies upon this country.” Thereupon, +taking the prince by the arm, he led him across the bridge and to +another quarter of the town where he dwelt. He bade the servants prepare +a fine supper, and he and the prince sat down to the table together. +After they had made an end of eating and drinking, the old man told the +prince all concerning those things of which he had spoken, and thus it +was: + +“When the king of this land died he left behind him three daughters--the +most beautiful princesses in all of the world. + +“Folk hardly dared speak of the eldest of them, but whisperings said +that she was a sorceress, and that strange and gruesome things were done +by her. The second princess was also a witch, though it was not said +that she was evil, like the other. As for the youngest of the three, she +was as beautiful as the morning and as gentle as a dove. When she was +born a golden thread was about her neck, and it was foretold of her that +she was to be the queen of that land. + +“But not long after the old king died the youngest princess vanished--no +one could tell whither, and no one dared to ask--and the eldest princess +had herself crowned as queen, and no one dared gainsay her. For a while +everything went well enough, but by-and-by evil days came upon the land. +Once every seven days the queen would bid some youth, young and strong, +to sup with her, and from that time no one ever heard of him again, and +no one dared ask what had become of him. At first it was the great +folk at the queen’s palace--officers and courtiers--who suffered; but +by-and-by the sons of the merchants and the chief men of the city began +to be taken. One time,” said the old man, “I myself had three sons--as +noble young men as could be found in the wide world. One day the chief +of the queen’s officers came to my house and asked me concerning how +many sons I had. I was forced to tell him, and in a little while they +were taken one by one to the queen’s palace, and I never saw them again. + +“But misfortune, like death, comes upon the young as well as the old. +You yourself have had trouble, or else I am mistaken. Tell me what +lies upon your heart, my son, for the talking of it makes the burthen +lighter.” + +The prince did as the old man bade him, and told all of his story; and +so they sat talking and talking until far into the night, and the old +man grew fonder and fonder of the prince the more he saw of him. So the +end of the matter was that he asked the prince to live with him as his +son, seeing that the young man had now no father and he no children, and +the prince consented gladly enough. + +So the two lived together like father and son, and the good old man +began to take some joy in life once more. + +But one day who should come riding up to the door but the chief of the +queen’s officers. + +“How is this?” said he to the old man, when he saw the prince. “Did you +not tell me that you had but three sons, and is this not a fourth?” + +It was of no use for the old man to tell the officer that the youth was +not his son, but was a prince who had come to visit that country. The +officer drew forth his tablets and wrote something upon them, and then +went his way, leaving the old man sighing and groaning. “Ah, me!” said +he, “my heart sadly forebodes trouble.” + +Sure enough, before three days had passed a bidding came to the prince +to make ready to sup with the queen that night. + +When evening drew near a troop of horsemen came, bringing a white horse +with a saddle and bridle of gold studded with precious stones, to take +the prince to the queen’s palace. + +As soon as they had brought him thither they led the prince to a room +where was a golden table spread with a snow-white cloth and set with +dishes of gold. At the end of the table the queen sat waiting for him, +and her face was hidden by a veil of silver gauze. She raised the veil +and looked at the prince, and when he saw her face he stood as one +wonder-struck, for not only was she so beautiful, but she set a spell +upon him with the evil charm of her eyes. No one sat at the table but +the queen and the prince, and a score of young pages served them, and +sweet music sounded from a curtained gallery. + +At last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong sounded from the +court-yard outside. Then in an instant the music was stopped, the pages +that served them hurried from the room, and presently all was as still +as death. + +Then, when all were gone, the queen arose and beckoned the prince, and +he had no choice but to arise also and follow whither she led. She took +him through the palace, where all was as still as the grave, and so came +out by a postern door into a garden. Beside the postern a torch burned +in a bracket. The queen took it down, and then led the prince up a path +and under the silent trees until they came to a great wall of rough +stone. She pressed her hand upon one of the great stones, and it opened +like a door, and there was a flight of steps that led downward. The +queen descended these steps, and the prince followed closely behind her. +At the bottom was a long passage-way, and at the farther end the prince +saw what looked like a bright spark of light, as though the sun were +shining. She thrust the torch into another bracket in the wall of the +passage, and then led the way towards the light. It grew larger and +larger as they went forward, until at last they came out at the farther +end, and there the prince found himself standing in the sunlight and +not far from the seashore. The queen led the way towards the shore, when +suddenly a great number of black dogs came running towards them, barking +and snapping, and showing their teeth as though they would tear the two +in pieces. But the queen drew from her bosom a whip with a steel-pointed +lash, and as the dogs came springing towards them she laid about her +right and left, till the skin flew and the blood ran, and the dogs +leaped away howling and yelping. + +At the edge of the water was a great stone mill, and the queen pointed +towards it and bade the prince turn it. Strong as he was, it was as much +as he could do to work it; but grind it he did, though the sweat ran +down his face in streams. By-and-by a speck appeared far away upon the +water; and as the prince ground and ground at the mill the speck grew +larger and larger. It was something upon the water, and it came nearer +and nearer as swiftly as the wind. At last it came close enough for him +to see that it was a little boat all of brass. By-and-by the boat struck +upon the beach, and as soon as it did so the queen entered it, bidding +the prince do the same. + +No sooner were they seated than away the boat went, still as swiftly as +the wind. On it flew and on it flew, until at last they came to another +shore, the like of which the prince had never seen in his life before. +Down to the edge of the water ran a garden--but such a garden! The +leaves of the trees were all of silver and the fruit of gold, and +instead of flowers were precious stones--white, red, yellow, blue, and +green--that flashed like sparks of sunlight as the breeze moved them +this way and that way. Beyond the silver trees, with their golden fruit, +was a great palace as white as snow, and so bright that one had to shut +one’s eyes as one looked upon it. + +The boat ran up on the beach close to just such a stone mill as the +prince had seen upon the other side of the water, and then he and +the queen stepped ashore. As soon as they had done so the brazen boat +floated swiftly away, and in a little while was gone. + +“Here our journey ends,” said the queen. “Is it not a wonderful land, +and well worth the seeing? Look at all these jewels and this gold, as +plenty as fruits and flowers at home. You may take what you please; but +while you are gathering them I have another matter after which I must +look. Wait for me here, and by-and-by I will be back again.” + +So saying, she turned and left the prince, going towards the castle back +of the trees. + +But the prince was a prince, and not a common man; he cared nothing for +gold and jewels. What he did care for was to see where the queen went, +and why she had brought him to this strange land. So, as soon as she had +fairly gone, he followed after. + +He went along under the gold and silver trees, in the direction she had +taken, until at last he came to a tall flight of steps that led up to +the doorway of the snow-white palace. The door stood open, and into it +the prince went. He saw not a soul, but he heard a noise as of blows and +the sound as of some one weeping. He followed the sound, until by-and-by +he came to a great vaulted room in the very centre of the palace. A +curtain hung at the doorway. The prince lifted it and peeped within, and +this was what he saw: + +In the middle of the room was a marble basin of water as clear as +crystal, and around the sides of the basin were these words, written in +letters of gold: + +“Whatsoever is False, that I make True.” + +Beside the fountain upon a marble stand stood a statue of a beautiful +woman made of alabaster, and around the neck of the statue was a thread +of gold. The queen stood beside the statue, and beat and beat it with +her steel-tipped whip. And all the while she lashed it the statue sighed +and groaned like a living being, and the tears ran down its stone cheeks +as though it were a suffering Christian. By-and-by the queen rested for +a moment, and said, panting, “Will you give me the thread of gold?” and +the statue answered “No.” Whereupon she fell to raining blows upon it as +she had done before. + +So she continued, now beating the statue and now asking it whether it +would give her the thread of gold, to which the statue always answered +“No,” and all the while the prince stood gazing and wondering. By-and-by +the queen wearied of what she was doing, and thrust the steel-tipped +lash back into her bosom again, upon which the prince, seeing that +she was done, hurried back to the garden where she had left him and +pretended to be gathering the golden fruit and jewel flowers. + +The queen said nothing to him good or bad, except to command him to +grind at the great stone mill as he had done on the other side of the +water. Thereupon the prince did as she bade, and presently the brazen +boat came skimming over the water more swiftly than the wind. Again the +queen and the prince entered it, and again it carried them to the other +side whence they had come. + +No sooner had the queen set foot upon the shore than she stopped and +gathered up a handful of sand. Then, turning as quick as lightning, she +flung it into the prince’s face. “Be a black dog,” she cried in a loud +voice, “and join your comrades!” + +And now it was that the ring that the prince’s mother had given him +stood him in good stead. But for it he would have become a black dog +like those others, for thus it had happened to all before him who had +ferried the witch queen over the water. So she expected to see him +run away yelping, as those others had done; but the prince remained a +prince, and stood looking her in the face. + +When the queen saw that her magic had failed her she grew as pale as +death, and fell to trembling in every limb. She turned and hastened +quickly away, and the prince followed her wondering, for he neither knew +the mischief she had intended doing him, nor how his ring had saved him +from the fate of those others. + +So they came back up the stairs and out through the stone wall into +the palace garden. The queen pressed her hand against the stone and it +turned back into its place again. Then, beckoning to the prince, she +hurried away down the garden. Before he followed he picked up a coal +that lay near by, and put a cross upon the stone; then he hurried after +her, and so came to the palace once more. + +By this time the cocks were crowing, and the dawn of day was just +beginning to show over the roof-tops and the chimney-stacks of the town. + +As for the queen, she had regained her composure, and, bidding the +prince wait for her a moment, she hastened to her chamber. There she +opened her book of magic, and in it she soon found who the prince was +and how the ring had saved him. + +When she had learned all that she wanted to know she put on a smiling +face and came back to him. “Ah, prince,” said she, “I well know who you +are, for your coming to my country is not secret to me. I have shown +you strange things to-night. I will unfold all the wonder to you another +time. Will you not come back and sup with me again?” + +“Yes,” said the prince, “I will come whensoever you bid me;” for he was +curious to know the secret of the statue and the strange things he had +seen. + +“And will you not give me a pledge of your coming?” said the queen, +still smiling. + +“What pledge shall I give you,” said the prince. + +“Give me the ring that is upon your finger,” said the queen; and she +smiled so bewitchingly that the prince could not have refused her had he +desired to do so. + +Alas for him! He thought no evil, but, without a word, drew off the ring +and gave it to the queen, and she slipped it upon her finger. + +“O fool!” she cried, laughing a wicked laugh, “O fool! to give away that +in which your safety lay!” As she spoke she dipped her fingers into a +basin of water that stood near by and dashed the drops into the prince’s +face. “Be a raven,” she cried, “and a raven remain!” + +In an instant the prince was a prince no longer, but a coal-black raven. +The queen snatched up a sword that lay near by and struck at him to kill +him. But the raven-prince leaped aside and the blow missed its aim. + +By good luck a window stood open, and before the queen could strike +again he spread his wings and flew out of the open casement and over the +house-tops and was gone. + +On he flew and on he flew until he came to the old man’s house, and so +to the room where his foster-father himself was sitting. He lit upon the +ground at the old man’s feet and tried to tell him what had befallen, +but all that he could say was “Croak! croak!” + +“What brings this bird of ill omen?” said the old man, and he drew his +sword to kill it. He raised his hand to strike, but the raven did not +try to fly away as he had expected, but bowed his neck to receive the +stroke. Then the old man saw that the tears were running down from the +raven’s eyes, and he held his hand. “What strange thing is this?” he +said. “Surely nothing but the living soul weeps; and how, then, can this +bird shed tears?” So he took the raven up and looked into his eyes, and +in them he saw the prince’s soul. “Alas!” he cried, “my heart misgives +me that something strange has happened. Tell me, is this not my +foster-son, the prince?” + +The raven answered “Croak!” and nothing else; but the good old man +understood it all, and the tears ran down his cheeks and trickled over +his beard. “Whether man or raven, you shall still be my son,” said he, +and he held the raven close in his arms and caressed it. + +He had a golden cage made for the bird, and every day he would walk with +it in the garden, talking to it as a father talks to his son. + +One day when they were thus in the garden together a strange lady came +towards them down the pathway. Over her had and face was drawn a thick +veil, so that the two could not tell who she was. When she came close to +them she raised the veil, and the raven-prince saw that her face was the +living likeness of the queen’s; and yet there was something in it that +was different. It was the second sister of the queen, and the old man +knew her and bowed before her. + +“Listen,” said she. “I know what the raven is, and that it is the +prince, whom the queen has bewitched. I also know nearly as much of +magic as she, and it is that alone that has saved me so long from ill. +But danger hangs close over me; the queen only waits for the chance to +bewitch me; and some day she will overpower me, for she is stronger +than I. With the prince’s aid I can overcome her and make myself forever +safe, and it is this that has brought me here to-day. My magic is +powerful enough to change the prince back into his true shape again, and +I will do so if he will aid me in what follows, and this is it: I will +conjure the queen, and by-and-by a great eagle will come flying, and its +plumage will be as black as night. Then I myself will become an eagle, +with black-and-white plumage, and we two will fight in the air. After a +while we will both fall to the ground, and then the prince must cut off +the head of the black eagle with a knife I shall give him. Will you do +this?” said she, turning to the raven, “if I transform you to your true +shape?” + +The raven bowed his head and said “Croak!” And the sister of the queen +knew that he meant yes. + +Therewith she drew a great, long keen knife from her bosom, and thrust +it into the ground. “It is with this knife of magic,” said she, “that +you must cut off the black eagle’s head.” Then the witch-princess +gathered up some sand in her hand, and flung it into the raven’s face. +“Resume,” cried she, “your own shape!” And in an instant the prince was +himself again. The next thing the sister of the queen did was to draw a +circle upon the ground around the prince, the old man, and herself. On +the circle she marked strange figures here and there. Then, all three +standing close together, she began her conjurations, uttering strange +words--now under her breath, and now clear and loud. + +Presently the sky darkened, and it began to thunder and rumble. Darker +it grew and darker, and the thunder crashed and roared. The earth +trembled under their feet, and the trees swayed hither and thither as +though tossed by a tempest. Then suddenly the uproar ceased and all grew +as still as death, the clouds rolled away, and in a moment the sun shone +out once more, and all was calm and serene as it had been before. But +still the princess muttered her conjurations, and as the prince and the +old man looked they beheld a speck that grew larger and larger, until +they saw that it was an eagle as black as night that was coming swiftly +flying through the sky. Then the queen’s sister also saw it and ceased +from her spells. She drew a little cap of feathers from her bosom with +trembling hands. “Remember,” said she to the prince; and, so saying, +clapped the feather cap upon her head. In an instant she herself became +an eagle--pied, black and white--and, spreading her wings, leaped into +the air. + +For a while the two eagles circled around and around; but at last they +dashed against one another, and, grappling with their talons, tumbled +over and over until they struck the ground close to the two who stood +looking. + +Then the prince snatched the knife from the ground and ran to where they +lay struggling. “Which was I to kill?” said he to the old man. + +“Are they not birds of a feather?” cried the foster-father. “Kill them +both, for then only shall we all be safe.” + +The prince needed no second telling to see the wisdom of what the old +man said. In an instant he struck off the heads of both the eagles, and +thus put an end to both sorceresses, the lesser as well as the greater. +They buried both of the eagles in the garden without telling any one of +what had happened. So soon as that was done the old man bade the prince +tell him all that had befallen him, and the prince did so. + +“Aye! aye!” said the old man, “I see it all as clear as day. The black +dogs are the young men who have supped with the queen; the statue is the +good princess; and the basin of water is the water of life, which has +the power of taking away magic. Come; let us make haste to bring help to +all those unfortunates who have been lying under the queen’s spells.” + +The prince needed no urging to do that. They hurried to the palace; they +crossed the garden to the stone wall. There they found the stone upon +which the prince had set the black cross. He pressed his hand upon it, +and it opened to him like a door. They descended the steps, and went +through the passageway, until they came out upon the sea-shore. The +black dogs came leaping towards them; but this time it was to fawn upon +them, and to lick their hands and faces. + +The prince turned the great stone mill till the brazen boat came flying +towards the shore. They entered it, and so crossed the water and came to +the other side. They did not tarry in the garden, but went straight to +the snow-white palace and to the great vaulted chamber where was the +statue. “Yes,” said the old man, “it is the youngest princess, sure +enough.” + +The prince said nothing, but he dipped up some of the water in his palm +and dashed it upon the statue. “If you are the princess, take your true +shape again,” said he. Before the words had left his lips the statue +became flesh and blood, and the princess stepped down from where +she stood, and the prince thought that he had never seen any one so +beautiful as she. “You have brought me back to life,” said she, “and +whatever I shall have shall be yours as well as mine.” + +Then they all set their faces homeward again, and the prince took with +him a cupful of the water of life. + +When they reached the farther shore the black dogs came running to meet +them. The prince sprinkled the water he carried upon them, and as soon +as it touched them that instant they were black dogs no longer, but the +tall, noble young men that the sorceress queen had bewitched. There, as +the old man had hoped, he found his own three sons, and kissed them with +the tears running down his face. + +But when the people of that land learned that their youngest princess, +and the one whom they loved, had come back again, and that the two +sorceresses would trouble them no longer, they shouted and shouted for +joy. All the town was hung with flags and illuminated, the fountains ran +with wine, and nothing was heard but sounds of rejoicing. In the midst +of it all the prince married the princess, and so became the king of +that country. + +And now to go back again to the beginning. + +After the youngest prince had been driven away from home, and the old +king had divided the kingdom betwixt the other two, things went for a +while smoothly and joyfully. But by little and little the king was put +to one side until he became as nothing in his own land. At last hot +words passed between the father and the two sons, and the end of the +matter was that the king was driven from the land to shift for himself. + +Now, after the youngest prince had married and had become king of that +other land, he bethought himself of his father and his mother, and +longed to see them again. So he set forth and travelled towards his old +home. In his journeying he came to a lonely house at the edge of a great +forest, and there night came upon him. He sent one of the many of those +who rode with him to ask whether he could not find lodging there for +the time, and who should answer the summons but the king, his father, +dressed in the coarse clothing of a forester. The old king did not know +his own son in the kingly young king who sat upon his snow-white horse. +He bade the visitor to enter, and he and the old queen served their son +and bowed before him. + +The next morning the young king rode back to his own land, and then sent +attendants with horses and splendid clothes, and bade them bring his +father and mother to his own home. + +He had a noble feast set for them, with everything befitting the +entertainment of a king, but he ordered that not a grain of salt should +season it. + +So the father and the mother sat down to the feast with their son and +his queen, but all the time they did not know him. The old king tasted +the food and tasted the food, but he could not eat of it. + +“Do you not feel hungry?” said the young king. + +“Alas,” said his father, “I crave your majesty’s pardon, but there is no +salt in the food.” + +“And so is life lacking of savor without love,” said the young king; +“and yet because I loved you as salt you disowned me and cast me out +into the world.” + +Therewith he could contain himself no longer, but with the tears running +down his cheeks kissed his father and his mother; and they knew him, and +kissed him again. + +Afterwards the young king went with a great army into the country of +his elder brothers, and, overcoming them, set his father upon his throne +again. If ever the two got back their crowns you may be sure that they +wore them more modestly than they did the first time. + + +So the Fisherman who had one time unbottled the Genie whom Solomon the +Wise had stoppered up concluded his story, and all of the good folk who +were there began clapping their shadowy hands. + +“Aye, aye,” said old Bidpai, “there is much truth in what you say, for +it is verily so that that which men call--love--is--the--salt--of--“.... + +His voice had been fading away thinner and thinner and smaller and +smaller--now it was like the shadow of a voice; now it trembled and +quivered out into silence and was gone. + +And with the voice of old Bidpai the pleasant Land of Twilight was also +gone. As a breath fades away from a mirror, so had it faded and vanished +into nothingness. + +I opened my eyes. + +There was a yellow light--it came from the evening lamp. There were +people of flesh and blood around--my own dear people--and they were +talking together. There was the library with the rows of books looking +silently out from their shelves. There was the fire of hickory logs +crackling and snapping in the fireplace, and throwing a wavering, yellow +light on the wall. + +Had I been asleep? No; I had been in Twilight Land. + +And now the pleasant Twilight Land had gone. It had faded out, and I was +back again in the work-a-day world. + +There I was sitting in my chair; and, what was more, it was time for the +children to go to bed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWILIGHT LAND *** + +***** This file should be named 1751-0.txt or 1751-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/5/1751/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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